BEIJING (AP) – The most successful of China’s entrepreneurs have created some of the world’s biggest companies and amassed stunning fortunes. Often they are little known outside of China, but that is changing as they expand abroad and sell shares on Wall Street. Some of their counterparts in China’s massive government-owned companies are making a mark as they try to instil innovation and efficiency in lumbering state giants. A look at key figures in Chinese business.
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E-commerce leader: Jack Ma, co-founder and chairman of Alibaba Group.
One of China’s best-known entrepreneurs, this former English teacher from the eastern city of Hangzhou is credited with laying the foundation for e-commerce in China by founding Alibaba in 1999 to link Chinese suppliers with retailers abroad. The company expanded into consumer e-commerce with its Taobao and Tmall platforms. In response to China’s lack of infrastructure such as credit cards to support e-commerce, Alibaba created online payments service Alipay. The company has become the world’s biggest online bazaar, with total sales exceeding those of Amazon.com Inc. and eBay combined. Last year, Alibaba also set another record, raising $25 billion on Wall Street in the biggest U.S. initial public stock offering to date. Ma’s net worth soared to $25 billion, making him China’s richest businessman. Ma is known for colorful behavior that includes dressing in a leather jacket and platinum wig to sing rock songs at the company’s annual Alifest employee gathering, a raucous event in a soccer stadium before an audience of thousands. Ma, who turned 50 in September, stepped down in 2013 as chief executive, saying he was too old for the Internet, but stayed on as executive chairman.
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