Jack Ma
Chinese business magnate and investor
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| February 17 2025 | Ma attends a symposium hosted by Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, marking his first major public reappearance since 2021, seen as a potential public rehabilitation after years out of the spotlight. |
| January 2024 | Ma replaces SoftBank as Alibaba's largest shareholder. |
| 2023 | Won the Confucius Education Award, announced at the World Chinese Culture Festival in Tokyo. |
| May 1 2023 | Ma begins an invited professorship at Tokyo College, University of Tokyo, focusing on sustainable agriculture and food production, set to run until October 31, 2024. |
| March 2023 | Ma returns to China and is photographed touring the Yungu school in Hangzhou, with reports suggesting he was persuaded to return by Premier Li Qiang. |
| March 30 2023 | Alibaba Group transforms into a holding company, with subsidiaries separating into six independent firms, reportedly engineered by Ma during overseas talks with CEO Daniel Zhang. |
| January 2023 | Ant Group makes major changes to its ownership structure, with Ma's voting rights reduced from 50% to 6%, and no single shareholder now holding a controlling stake. |
| November 2022 | Ma reportedly begins living a low-profile life in Tokyo, Japan. |
| January 20 2021 | Ma makes his first public appearance since disappearing, speaking via video link to rural teachers at the annual Rural Teacher Initiative charitable event. |
| 2020 | In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Alibaba Foundation and Jack Ma Foundation launched international medical supply donation initiatives to the United States, Asia, Africa, and Europe. |
| November 2020 | Ma was replaced as a judge in the finale of Africa's Business Heroes television show, with Alibaba executive Peng Lei taking his place, reportedly due to a schedule conflict. |
| November 3 2020 | Shanghai Stock Exchange halts Ant Group's planned initial public offering (IPO). |
| October 2020 | Jack Ma disappears from public view following a critical speech at the annual People's Bank of China financial markets forum, where he criticized regulators and banks for operating with a 'pawn shop mentality'. |
| October 1 2020 | Officially stepped down from the board of Alibaba, with Daniel Zhang taking over as executive chairman. |
| July 2020 | Received a first-class medal from King Abdullah II for contributions in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| 2019 | Ma publicly endorsed the 996 working hour system and stated it was a 'huge blessing' necessary for success. He also predicted future work patterns might shift to four-hour workdays due to AI, while expressing skepticism about AI completely replacing human workers. |
| 2019 | Recognized by Forbes in the 'Asia's 2019 Heroes of Philanthropy' list and awarded the Malcolm S. Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award for supporting underprivileged communities in China, Africa, Australia, and the Middle East. |
| May 2019 | Appointed by UN Secretary-General as an advocate for sustainable development goals. |
| November 2018 | People's Daily identified Ma as a member of the Chinese Communist Party, which surprised many observers. |
| September 10 2018 | Announced his plans to step down as executive chairman of Alibaba Group Holding in the coming year, citing a desire to focus on philanthropy. |
| May 2018 | Received an honorary degree of Doctor of Social Sciences from the University of Hong Kong and an honorary doctorate from Tel Aviv University. |
| 2017 | Ma advocated for using big data and AI to implement elements of a planned economy, arguing that technology could eliminate historical information gaps in economic models. |
| 2017 | Ranked second on Fortune's World's 50 Greatest Leaders list. |
| 2017 | Jack Ma made his acting debut in the kung fu short film Gong Shou Dao, which was directed by Wen Zhang and produced by Jet Li. The film featured an ensemble cast including Ma, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Wu Jing, Tony Jaa, and other notable martial artists and athletes. |
| September 2017 | Partnered with Hong Kong business tycoon Sir Li Ka-shing to offer a digital wallet service in Hong Kong. |
| September 8 2017 | Performed a Michael Jackson-inspired dance at Alibaba's 18th anniversary celebration event. |
| January 9 2017 | Met with US president-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower to discuss potential 1 million job openings through Alibaba's business expansion in the United States. |
| 2016 | Awarded the Chevalier of the French Legion of Honour by French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development Laurent Fabius. |
| 2015 | Founded the Hupan School, a business school aimed at nurturing entrepreneurial talent. |
| 2015 | Alibaba launched the Alibaba Hong Kong Young Entrepreneurs Foundation to support local entrepreneurs, and funded the rebuilding of 1,000 houses damaged by the Nepal earthquake while raising money for 9,000 more houses. |
| 2015 | Honored with the Entrepreneur of the Year award by Asian Award. |
| September 2014 | Alibaba raised over $25 billion in an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange. |
| September 24 2014 | In an interview with Taobao, Ma discussed the strength of American society, attributing it to its Judeo-Christian heritage and emphasizing the importance of implementing a positive value system in China to overcome the legacy of the Cultural Revolution. |
| November 2013 | Awarded an honorary doctoral degree by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. |
| May 10 2013 | Ma stepped down as the chief executive officer of Alibaba, but remained as the executive chairman of the corporation. |
| November 2012 | Alibaba's online transaction volume exceeded one trillion yuan. |
| July 2011 | Resolved the ownership dispute over Alipay with Alibaba Group, Yahoo, and Softbank after Ma transferred control of the payment company to comply with Chinese law. |
| May 2010 | At Alibaba.com's annual shareholders meeting, Ma announced the company would allocate 0.3% of annual revenue to environmental protection projects, focusing on water and air quality improvement. |
| April 2010 | Joined the global board of directors of The Nature Conservancy. |
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