Page 27 - Forbes India (December 2015)

to get ahead of the narrative prior to are not happy, but I also say that’s an early investor in Alibaba. As did
executing Alibaba’s audacious next your business model. You have to Japan’s Masayoshi Son, founder
phase: Moving from a giant in China check your business model, too.” of Softbank, and Goldman Sachs.
to retail dominance worldwide. The ascent of Jack Ma and China Ma has proved equally adept at
That requires building trust with itself are inextricably entwined. In handling the Chinese government,
consumers everywhere—trust that 1999, the former English teacher which still wields tremendous
could be undermined by a buyer- founded Alibaba with 17 colleagues influence over the fate of private
beware reputation. “Jack Ma has in his apartment in Hangzhou. His business. When China’s President Xi
made a lot of money,” says William first venture was the business-to- Jinping visited the US and the UK
Forsythe, brand-protection manager business site Alibaba.com, which recently, Jack Ma was with him.
at the North American unit of connects companies in the US and Accusations of rampant fakes
Japanese automaker Nissan Motor. elsewhere with suppliers in China. dogged Alibaba and Taobao from the
“But if he is going to have a market- Then, in 2003, he launched Taobao. beginning, with Ma all along asserting
place that has a global footprint, he As China grew into the world’s he was taking a tough stand. But
needs to put a system in place to second-largest economy, Taobao, as the site grew, so did complaints
protect international trademarks.” which translates to “search for from established brands, and in
That’s the riddle for Ma: Can treasures”, became the country’s 2008, the Office of the US Trade
he crack down on fakes enough premier internet shopping site. Some Representative placed Taobao on
to be viewed globally as someone 50 percent of Chinese online retail its list of Notorious Markets, joining
who respects the sanctity of brands flows through Taobao, according the likes of Baidu and PirateBay.
sold on his sites—but not enough to consulting firm iResearch. Counterfeiting in China is noth-
to sink the small-time sellers Ma himself lacked the standard ing new. Back in the 19th century
who remain his rice bowl? traits that help businessmen get American merchants would have
The longer Ma talks, the more it’s ahead in Communist China—political cheap copies of paintings made
clear where his sentiments fall. The connections or an elite education. in Chinese workshops. But the
second-richest man in China thinks He barely made it to college. Yet he counterfeiting programme got
the very idea of luxury retail—selling had the good fortune to cultivate exponentially worse after China began
belts and accessories and the like for high-profile business leaders at an its historic shift toward free-market
thousands of dollars—is inherently early stage. While serving as a junior capitalism in the 1980s. In fact, Ma
absurd. “How can you sell Gucci or staffer at a government ministry, sees his issue with bogus goods as a
whatever branded bag for so much he was assigned to give a tour of direct outgrowth of China’s econom-
money? It is ridiculous,” he says. “I the Great Wall to Jerry Yang, co- ic ascent. As the slumbering giant
understand the branded companies founder of Yahoo, which became woke up, factories making all sorts
LARRY PAGE
kEEPinG oRdER AT homE For years, Google’s
India’s populist PM presided over 7.4 percent GDP growth in his first year co-founders were listed
in office, and raised his profile as a global leader during official visits side-by-side, but separating
with Barack Obama and Xi Jinping. A barnstorming tour of Silicon Valley the two—Page is now CEO of
reinforced his nation’s massive importance in tech. But governing 1.3 billion the newly formed Alphabet
while Brin is president—
people requires more than shaking hands: Now Modi must pass his party’s uncovers a big differential
reform agenda and keep fractious opposition under control. in their relative power

5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
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General Co-Chair, Yellen cameron modi Co-founder, GooGle draGhi Premier,
seCretary, Bill & Chair, Prime Prime AGE 42 President, China
Communist melinda federal minister, uK minister, us euroPean AGE 60
Party of Gates reserve AGE 49 india Central China LaRRy Page: setH Wenig / aP
China foundation AGE 69 uK AGE 65 BanK
AGE 62 AGE 60 us india AGE 68
China us italy

gOVeRnment & POLicy PHiLantHROPy & ReLigiOn Finance & inVestment Business cRime & teRROR

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