Jack Ma’s message to Alibaba on its 25th anniversary

Yesterday (10 Sep 2024), on the occasion of Alibaba’s 25th anniversary, Jack Ma posted on the company internal bulletin board responding to a message by Co-founder and Chief People Officer Jane Jiang.

Not many might know that yesterday was also Jack Ma’s 60th birthday and the Teacher’s Day of China. The former English teacher timed everything well, and built Alibaba to “last 102 years”.

We have translated the post into English here:

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I was deeply moved after reading Jane Jiang’s post and the replies from Alibaba employees.

Many people have asked me, what is the thing that makes me most proud and touched by Alibaba? Twenty-five years ago, we had nothing but a dream, and at that time, the dream seemed incredibly unrealistic. The internet, payment systems, and logistics were either undeveloped or nonexistent. People only believed in face-to-face transactions and doing business through “connections.” Yet, we believed in the future, in internet technology, and in our ability to do something we could be proud of in China, and even the world, through hard work.

Starting with just 18 people, we were convinced that “ordinary people can do extraordinary things.” We wanted to gather a group of people with values and feelings to do something meaningful for society. We are grateful to the era we live in, to all the Alibaba employees who contributed to this dream, to our customers for their trust and tolerance, to our investors for their understanding and support, and to the public for their forgiveness. We have transformed from a company that believed in the future to one that creates the future.

We set a goal to be a company that would last 102 years, and every year that passes reminds us how challenging that goal is, especially when we aim to be a company with ideals and impact, not just one that survives by making money. Over the past 25 years, we’ve been constantly wrestling with doubts, frustrations, setbacks, pain, and struggles. Yet, we’ve gritted our teeth, smiled, and persisted, while pushing forward and protecting our ideals.

What I am most proud of over the last 25 years is not how many companies we have founded, but how much change and value these companies have brought to society. I am not proud of how much money we’ve made or how high our market valuation is, but rather, that after making money, Alibaba people still have ideals and values. I am proud to work with Alibaba people, to experience together, to persist together, to explore the future together, and to taste failure and lessons together. I am proud to have debated, imagined, and created the future with so many talented young people at Alibaba.

I am proud that when there was no payment system, we created one; when there was no logistics infrastructure, we got involved in building it; when there was no internet support technology, we invested in cloud computing; when credit had no value, we made credit invaluable. We believe that technology can and must help every ordinary person, and that every ordinary person should be able to gain dignity through technology.

I am even prouder that we have had the privilege of contributing to societal progress, from helping countless young people start businesses, to Ant Forest, to the drug supervision code, to using technology to eliminate child trafficking, to solving the challenge of buying train tickets during the Chinese New Year, to the thousands of programmers working around the clock to develop health codes during the pandemic, to the many outstanding employees who left their comfortable, familiar work environments to serve as “rural economic commissioners” in impoverished areas. The “heroic spirit” of Alibaba employees, beyond just performance, has thankfully been recognized.

Today, as we see internet and AI technologies surging again, with fierce competition across industries, many of Alibaba’s businesses are facing challenges and risks of being overtaken. This was expected because no company can stay number one forever in any field. Only through competition can we become stronger and the industry healthier. After all, Alibaba has never been a company that was protected; we believe in the power of the market and the value of innovation.

Twenty-five years have already passed, and we are nearly a quarter of the way to our goal of lasting 102 years. We must constantly remind ourselves not to lose who we are under the pressures of competition and circumstances. Alibaba is Alibaba because of our idealistic spirit. We believe in the future, we believe in the market, and we believe even more that only companies that create real value for society and are kind can last the full 102 years.

I am proud because I am an Alibaba person. I am proud that Alibaba people have created so much value beyond business. I am proud because Alibaba people have heart and integrity.

Happy 25th anniversary, Alibaba!