Page 10 - Forbes - Asia (December 2019 - January 2020)

SIDELINES

Full Circle

t’s rare to cross paths with one of the world’s
great entrepreneurial heroes not once but Jack Ma in October with
a copy of Forbes Global’s
twice, both at pivotal moments in that
July 24, 2000 issue.
Ientrepreneur’s journey. Such is the case with
Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba. Forbes Global, the
precursor magazine to Forbes Asia, had Ma on the
cover of its July 24, 2000 issue, with the cover line:
“Fighting for Eyeballs” (and written by this editor).
Thus Forbes Global become the first major business
magazine in the world to put Ma on its cover.
In the first paragraph of that article, Ma is
quoted as saying “Our vision for Alibaba is to
become one of the top ten websites, not just in
China but the world. Period!” It was a fateful pre-
diction. What’s remarkable is that Alibaba had
about 150 employees and had been in business for
less than two years, so Ma’s declaration was some-
thing of a stretch goal. Yet Ma’s entrepreneurial
energy convinced us that he might, as the article
said, “pull it off.”
Fast forward 19 years to October this year.
On the stage at a gala dinner, Ma accepted the
Malcolm S. Forbes Lifetime Achievement award
from Steve Forbes, the chairman and editor-in-
chief of Forbes Media, during the Forbes Global
CEO Conference held in Singapore. “It is my
great honor to get this honor,” he said on stage. development for Ma, he has, in fact, been planning
What made this award all the more significant was for this moment for a decade, and already has
its timing: it came about a month after Ma had considerable experience in charitable giving and
announced that, after 20 years of building Alibaba, philanthropy. Just as Ma took Alibaba to great
he was taking on a new role to focus more on heights, it will come as no surprise if he achieves a
philanthropy, the environment and education. similar feat in his philanthropic endeavors.
Thus Forbes had the opportunity to meet Ma
as he started his entrepreneurial journey and then
again as he started his philanthropic journey.
After he accepted his award, he gave an exclusive
interview to discuss his vision for the next chapter
in his remarkable career. As detailed in this Justin Doebele
issue’s cover story, while many see this as a new Editor, Forbes Asia

8 | FORBES ASIA DECEMBER 2019 / JANUARY 2020