Jack Ma, the richest man in China, announced on Friday that he’s donating 1 million face masks and 500,000 coronavirus testing kits to the United States. The founder of Alibaba Group, a worldwide e-commerce company, announced a day earlier that he was also donating 1.8 million face masks and 100,000 coronavirus testing kits to Europe.
Ma, whom only two days ago eclipsed Indian business tycoon Mukesh Ambani as the richest man in Asia, has a net worth of $45.7 billion dollars, according to entrepreneur.com.
The 55-year-old billionaire wants to do his part to help the world face the COVID-19 pandemic. He wrote, “Drawing from own country’s experience, speed and accurate testing solution and adequate personal protective equipment for medical professionals are most effecting in preventing the spread of the virus. We hope that our donation can help Americans fight the pandemic!”
GettyFace masks
“This crisis presents a huge challenge to all humankind in a globalized world. The pandemic we face today can no longer be resolved by an individual country. Rather, we need to combat the virus by working hand-in-hand. At the moment, we can’t beat this virus unless we eliminate boundaries to resources and share out know-how and hard-earned lessons. United we stand, divided we fall!”
Here’s what you need to know about Jack Ma’s net worth:
1. Jack Ma Donated Over $14 Million To Chinese Scientists Working On A Coronavirus Cure
Steve Forbes (L), Jack Ma (R)
This isn’t the first time Ma has personally donated money toward helping the world fight COVID-19. In January, he announced via Alibaba’s Weibo account, which is the Chinese version of Twitter, that he was donating 100 million yuan, which translates to $14,268,999 in America – to help find a cure to coronavirus.
Ma wrote that he donated this money “to support the development of a coronavirus vaccine. The remaining funds will be used to support domestic and foreign top scientific research institutions and researchers to collaborate.”
In his announcement, Ma said that 20 million yuan, which converts to $2,853,799 in America, would go to both the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering for further research and development of virus vaccines.
2. Alibaba Is the Biggest E-Commerce Business In The World
Elon Musk (R), Co-founder and CEO of Tesla, and Jack Ma
As reported by the Washington Square Journal, Ma’s company is not only China’s biggest e-commerce company in China, but the largest in the world. It owns numerous companies, including Taobao, one of the largest online shopping sites in China, which allows over seven million merchants a place to sell their goods. China’s population reportedly does 80 percent of all its shopping online.
Alibaba.com, its flagship company, continues to be its largest vertical with operations running in over 200 different countries. According to Investopedia.com, Alibaba.com has three main branches: Alibaba.com, an English-language portal, which connects sales between importers and exporters. Their Chinese portal, 1688.com, works as a platform for in-country business trade, and AliExpress.com, allows people in China to buy products at wholesale prices.
3. AliPay Is The World’s Biggest E-Payment Site
Jack Ma
There are a lot of superlatives when it comes to the Alibaba Group. They own Alipay, which they founded in 2004. With over 400 million users, making it the world’s largest online payment app, topping over Paypal in 2014, and though creating partnerships with MasterCard and Visa to grow worldwide.
4. Alibaba Acquired Lazada For $1 Billion
Jack Ma
Ma’s company acquired the largest stake in Lazada back in 2016, after investing $1 billion in the company, which was originally founded by Rocket Internet. In March 2018, Alibaba invested another $2 billion in Lazada, after already funneling $1 billion in 2016 and an additional $1 billion in 2017.
Lazada, which is based in Singapore, is an e-commerce company that focuses on countries based in southeast Asia.
5. Ma Made Even More Money After Stepping Down as Alibaba’s CEO
Even though Ma stepped down as Alibaba’s CEO on September 10, 2019, his massive fortune has continued to grow. He’s topped Forbes China Rich List in both 2018 and in 2019, and according to CNBC, made a total of $38.2 billion last year, which is a rise from his income in 2018, a cool $34.6 billion.
In his place, Daniel Zhang took over as CEO. At the time, Alibaba’s company was valued at over $460 billion.
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