Not long ago, Alibaba celebrated its 25th anniversary, and its founder Ma Yun officially turned 60.

It's a bit surprising. Although Ma Yun is not particularly good-looking, he always exuded a youthful and energetic vibe whenever he appeared in public, vigorously promoting new products and models, seemingly immune to aging.

Of course, the shock of him turning 60 pales in comparison to the revelation that Daniel Wu is about to turn 50. People grow old, and one generation's dominance is inevitably replaced by the next. This is an unchanging law.

In the years leading up to his retirement, Ma Yun found himself embroiled in significant controversy, ultimately choosing to step back from the spotlight.

In recent years, he has mostly been seen in blurry internet photos and videos, either quietly traveling in other countries or making brief appearances at Alibaba headquarters amidst crowds of onlookers.

People still miss him, miss the era of Ma Yun, and miss the Ma Yun of that era.

Image source: Ma Yun's Weibo

Undoubtedly, Ma Yun is a fortunate individual. With his talent, he ushered in China's e-commerce era and built a globally significant technology company, while also realizing his personal value.

On September 10, Ma Yun posted on Alibaba's internal network, writing:

'I am proud that where there was no payment system, we created one; where there was no logistics, we participated in building it; where there was no supporting internet technology, we invested in the cloud; where credit was worthless, we made it invaluable... We believe that technology can and must help every ordinary person, allowing every common citizen to gain dignity through technology...'

He also mentioned: 'I am proud to have worked with the Alibaba team, to have experienced, persevered, explored the future, and tasted failure and lessons together...'

Over the past five years, Alibaba has not had an easy ride, facing investigations, penalties, competition from rivals, and significant leadership and structural changes.

Meanwhile, in the few photos of Ma Yun that have surfaced, his temples are graying. Though he seems to have retreated from public view, he occasionally stirs up small ripples at crucial moments.

For Alibaba, there have been positive developments recently: the company has completed three years of rectification, achieving significant compliance results; Alibaba's Hong Kong shares have been included in the Stock Connect program, potentially bringing in around $15 billion in southbound capital.

Regardless of Alibaba's future prospects, Ma Yun remains a symbol of Chinese entrepreneurship, reflecting the tumultuous business landscape of the millennium era.

01

Timing the Pulse

The wave of reform and opening-up gave birth to many trendsetters, and Ma Yun is undoubtedly the most prominent figure in the internet industry, one who has timed the waves perfectly, going far and strong.

In 1992, as an English teacher, Ma Yun discovered the charm of commerce and trade. He first founded Hangzhou's first professional translation agency and, three years later, after encountering the internet in the US, returned home to establish 'China Pages,' creating online business cards for domestic companies.

In 1999, Ma Yun keenly combined the trends of online trade and the internet, founding Alibaba Group and assembling an elite team of eighteen founders.

The early days of the startup were tough, but Ma Yun led the team forward with vision, centered around two mottos: 'There are no difficult businesses in the world' and 'Ma Family's Secret Recipe Old Duck Soup.'

Early employees looked forward to tasting the legendary Old Duck Soup, but to this day, they have yet to indulge.

Image source: Alibaba Group's official website

After timing the e-commerce wave perfectly, Alibaba soared: the 1688 platform launched in 1999 reshaped the national supply and demand system; Taobao, introduced in 2003, enabled anyone to become an e-commerce buyer or seller; and Alipay, launched in 2004, addressed the crucial issue of credit in e-commerce transactions...

Alibaba continued to thrive in the subsequent mobile internet and live streaming e-commerce eras.

However, Ma Yun was not invincible. His long-cherished vision of a social platform could not compete with Tencent's WeChat, and Ant Group faced regulatory hurdles that prevented its IPO. In recent years, Alibaba has also had to contend with new e-commerce formats like Pinduoduo and Douyin.

Nevertheless, under the leadership of Ma Yun and the eighteen founders, Alibaba grew from humble beginnings to become a multinational corporation with a peak market value of over $800 billion.

Ma Yun's status in the industry is unquestioned.

02

Passing the Baton Three Times

Ma Yun is a fan of Jin Yong's martial arts novels, and the common trope of 'washing one's hands of the martial world' has played out in his life three times—a rarity among entrepreneurs who tend to cling to power.

As early as November 2006, Ma Yun stepped down, handing over the presidency of the company to Wei Zhe. Before taking office, Wei Zhe was the youngest Chinese president of a Fortune 500 company and had investment banking experience.

After taking office, Wei Zhe focused on streamlining the company's internal and external operations, leading Alibaba Group to a successful IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange the following year, increasing the company's revenue from 1.36 billion yuan in 2006 to 5.5 billion yuan in 2010.

However, in 2011, a large-scale fraud scandal erupted on Alibaba's B2B platform. Ma Yun deeply involved himself in the investigation, believing that it severely impacted the company's values of integrity. As a result, Wei Zhe resigned as CEO of Alibaba and left the company.

In May 2013, Ma Yun stepped down as CEO of the group, handing over the reins to Lu Zhaoxi. At Taobao's tenth-anniversary gala, 48-year-old Ma Yun knelt on one knee and said, 'Before 48, work was my life; after 48, life is my work. From now on, I'll leave it to all of you.'

Image source: Screenshot from Taobao's 10th-anniversary gala video

Known as Alibaba's 'firefighter,' Lu Zhaoxi had previously founded Alipay for Taobao and taken over as president to combat counterfeits. In 2011, he also addressed the fraud scandal on the B2B platform for Ma Yun.

When Lu Zhaoxi took over as CEO in 2013, he faced a new firefighting challenge: competing with WeChat, which had garnered 300 million users in just two years, with Alibaba's 'Laiwang' messaging app—a battle that ultimately proved unwinnable.

Two years later, Daniel Zhang succeeded Lu Zhaoxi as CEO. On September 10, 2019, rockstar-like Ma Yun sang 'Bloom' at Alibaba's 20th-anniversary celebration, retiring for the third time and entrusting Alibaba to Daniel Zhang.

With each retirement, Ma Yun has gradually distanced himself from the company's day-to-day operations. However, he and the eighteen founders maintain control through the partnership system, enabling strategic adjustments as needed.

03

Semi-Retirement

Since 'Xiaoyaozi' (Daniel Zhang) took over, 'Fengqingyang' (Ma Yun) has indeed distanced himself from the industry over the past five years, occasionally making appearances around the world, focusing on areas such as agriculture, philanthropy, and education.

During this period, Alibaba Group has faced various challenges: Ant Group's failed IPO due to regulatory issues, three years of regulatory rectification, fierce competition from new players like Pinduoduo and Douyin, sluggish growth compared to these rivals, a complex economic landscape, and the eventual abandonment of spin-off IPO plans...

Alibaba's share price has also been on a rollercoaster ride, falling from $190 in 2019 to a peak of $319 at the end of 2020 before crashing back down to around $80 today.

Occasionally, Ma Yun has had to make public appearances. In March 2023, with Ma Yun's support, Daniel Zhang initiated the '1+6+N' reform but abandoned it in June, announcing his resignation in September.

In small-scale meetings, Ma Yun emphasized the need to 'return to Taobao, return to users, return to the internet.' Over the past year, Alibaba Group has been helmed by two of the eighteen founders, Joe Tsai and Simon Wu.

In the latest quarterly financial report for fiscal year 2025 (for the three months ended June 30, 2024), Alibaba Group's revenue increased by 4% year-on-year, with Tmall's orders growing by double digits and Alibaba Cloud's AI-related product revenue tripling. However, Alibaba China Retail Commerce's revenue declined by 2%.

Alibaba's management stated that most of its businesses are expected to achieve break-even within 1-2 years and gradually begin contributing to Scale up profitability.

It is evident that Joe Tsai and Simon Wu are confident. After taking over, they have quickly adjusted the management team and business operations, and with the completion of three years of rectification and inclusion in Stock Connect, Alibaba, which had previously been sluggish, is once again setting sail.

In his internal letter, Ma Yun also expressed confidence: 'We believe in the future, we believe in the market, and we believe even more strongly that only by creating real value for society can a company persist and complete its 102-year journey.'

Will the company founded by Ma Yun complete its 102-year journey?

For the general public, this may not be of utmost importance. What matters is that the Ma Yun of the entrepreneurial era continues to inspire and encourage us all.