tries to introduce you to a person of interest in the financial world. This could be a person

in government or banking or an important investors or trader, on just someone making the financial

headlines in recent days. Just a year ago, the name Jack Ma was unknown

outside of China and even at home was only familiar to those in the world of finance

and ecommerce. Ma is a household name in China and may soon be known among big tech names

like Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg. Here’s a look at Ma’s career ascent, from

English teacher to global tech titan on Wall Street.

Ma started Alibaba out of his Hengzhou apartment in 1999. Today, the company has its hands

in a sprawling assortment of online retail marketplaces, cloud computing services, messaging

apps, and video websites, and it generates $2 billion in profit per quarter. Ma said

that the central focus of his company remains helping small businesses and that the company

will use the $21.8 billion it’s raising in its IPO to further this goal.

Before Friday, Ma was the richest man in China. After the markets closed, he was one of the

richest in the world. His net worth now stands at more than $18 billion. He sold 12.75 million

shares in the IPO, a fraction of the 206.1 million he owned.

After graduation, Ma was an English teacher for five years. His salary was 100 to 120

yuan, or about $12 to $15 a month. On this first visit to the U.S., his friend

showed him the Internet and he realized there was hardly any data on China at all. Ma says

at that point he had never even touched a keyboard, but when he returned home, he launched

an online business directory, China Pages. Ma and his friends pooled $60,000 to start

Alibaba. Ma says he chose Alibaba because he wanted

to create a global company from the start. He chose Alibaba because it’s easy to spell

and because people everywhere know it as the “Open Sesame” command to unlock doors

to hidden treasures.