Alibaba’s Jack Ma does not want others to be like him; Here’s why

While speaking at the World Economic Forum on Thursday, Ma warned others not to try and replicate his path of success.

Ma also said that he is thankful of the admiration he gets, but does not considers himself ‘legendary’ or ‘someone significant’. (Image: AFP)

Owner of Chinese tech giant Alibaba, Jack Ma, is often considered as someone to look up to when its comes to business understanding. However, world’s successful businessman does not want others to be like him. While speaking at the World Economic Forum on Thursday, Ma warned others not to try and replicate his path of success. He said that when people crown him with such a esteem, it makes him rather sad. He said he feels like his name has become an electronic IP address burdened with predestined expectations, but this is the full picture. “When I mention Jack Ma, you've got your own definition, but that's not me entirely,” CNBC quoted the the Chinese billionaire as saying. He still believes that he is a common man who was born and brought up in Hangzhou. Ma also said that he is thankful of the admiration he gets, but does not considers himself ‘legendary’ or ‘someone significant’. Rather than following him, Ma wants people to build their own success path. “We need to know about other people. But, more importantly, we need to know about ourselves,” said the 54-year-old mastermind of Alibaba. After placing Alibaba as one of world’s successful business venture and helping China in its e-commerce boom, Ma has now decided to step down as the company’s chairman by September 2019. Ma will handover the baton of Alibaba to CEO Daniel Zhang. “This transition demonstrates that Alibaba has stepped up to the next level of corporate governance from a company that relies on individuals, to one built on systems of organizational excellence and a culture of talent development," a section of Ma’s letter to Alibaba employees read. Maa, who was an English teacher, founded Alibaba in 1999 in a small apartment with an aim to connect Chinese exporters with international retailers. As the business grew, Alibaba stepped into consumer retailing, cloud computing, online finance and other segments. Today, Alibaba stands as world’s biggest e-commerce firm by the total value of products sold across all its platforms.