Although he has retired, Jack Ma's status in the world is still there, and his every move can become the focus of heated discussions among netizens. On September 10, 2019, Jack Ma officially announced his retirement and would no longer serve as chairman of the board of directors of Alibaba Group. In the following years, he grew vegetables, tea, fish, cattle, and wine. His public schedule was rarely business-related, as if he had truly entered retirement life.
It will not be until 2023 that pastoral songs will become reality, and he can be seen again in business investment and capital markets. Jack Ma not only opened a store on Tmall and sold large yellow croaker and mussels, he also increased his holdings of Alibaba shares and became the largest shareholder of Alibaba.
He has not given up on his "old career" in the education industry, and has been hired as an honorary professor at the University of Hong Kong and a visiting professor at Tokyo College. Jack Ma once said that teaching is his favorite profession, and he hopes to return to school as a teacher one day, and now he has finally realized it.
Judging from the publicly exposed itinerary, most of the occasions where Jack Ma appeared in the past year were related to education and agricultural technology.
The obsession of teachers that can’t be let go from “Dad Ma” to “Professor Ma”
In those years when Jack Ma dominated the Internet industry, a widely spread name was "Daddy Ma", and now he has another title "Professor Ma".
On April 21, 2023, the official website of the University of Hong Kong announced that Jack Ma was appointed as an honorary professor for a period of three years. According to the School of Economics and Management of the University of Hong Kong, Jack Ma is an honorary professor of "Management and Business Strategy" at the University of Hong Kong.
The Jack Ma Charity Foundation told the media at the time that it had received an invitation from the University of Hong Kong in March. This work was highly consistent with Jack Ma’s entrepreneurial experience and philosophy. During his tenure, Jack Ma would work in the fields of education and corporate innovation.
Jack Ma has a close relationship with the University of Hong Kong. In 2018, Jack Ma received an honorary doctorate in social sciences from the University of Hong Kong. After being hired as an honorary professor this time, some netizens are curious about what courses Jack Ma will teach and whether he will teach graduate students. However, honorary professors of HKU generally do not personally teach students.
Not only the University of Hong Kong, but on May 1, the University of Tokyo in Japan announced that Jack Ma will be hired as a visiting professor at "Tokyo College". The employment period is from May 1, 2023 to October 31, 2023, and the contract can be renewed every year. During his appointment, Ma will conduct joint research with researchers at the University of Tokyo, particularly in the areas of sustainable agriculture and food production.
It is understood that Jack Ma’s work and life have always been focused in Hangzhou and Hong Kong, focusing on education, agriculture, corporate innovation, and technological innovation. In March last year, Jack Ma's first stop after returning to China was Hangzhou Yungu School. His Jack Ma Charity Foundation has supported rural education for 10 years.
Before founding Alibaba, Jack Ma received four years of normal education and worked as a teacher for six years. He is obsessed with teachers. He once said that teaching was his favorite profession and he hoped to return to school as a teacher one day. Now, being "Professor Ma" can be regarded as getting what he wanted.
Second business start-up after retirement, from Ma’s kitchen to “1.8 meters”
In addition to education, Jack Ma has shown a strong interest in agriculture and "eating" after his retirement. To this end, he has visited the Netherlands, Japan, Thailand, Australia and other places to inspect agricultural-related scientific research and technology projects. The official Weibo account of the Jack Ma Foundation revealed that Jack Ma himself has seen agricultural technologies in many places, and some have even tried them out by himself, such as growing vegetables, tea, grass, and grapes; raising fish, raising cattle, and making wine.
However, this kind of attention is more like a personal interest of Jack Ma, and has not turned into substantive actions at the investment and management level over the past few years. It was not until August last year that Yimiba Food Technology (Zhejiang) Co., Ltd. was established, in which Jack Ma was discovered.
Hangzhou Dajingtou 202 Culture and Art Co., Ltd. holds 10% of the shares of Yimiba Food Technology (Zhejiang) Co., Ltd., and Jack Ma is the actual controller of Hangzhou Dajingtou 212 Culture and Art Co., Ltd., holding 99.9% of the shares.
Tianyancha information shows that there are many companies under the "Yimiba" brand. In addition to Yimiba Food Technology (Zhejiang) Co., Ltd., it also includes Yimiba Agricultural Technology (Hainan) Co., Ltd., Yimiba Marine Technology (Zhejiang) Co., Ltd., Yimiba Fermentation Technology (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd., etc., most of which are directly or indirectly controlled by 1.8 Meters Technology Holding Limited registered in Hong Kong.
Among them, the chairman of Yimiba Marine Technology (Zhejiang) Co., Ltd. and the chairman and chief quality control officer of Yimiba Agricultural Technology are Hu Xiaoming. Hu Xiaoming is a former Alibaba partner who has held important positions in Alipay, Alibaba Finance, and Ant Financial. In March 2021, Hu Xiaoming resigned as CEO of Ant Group.
The above-mentioned companies related to the "Yimiba" brand were all established between July and December last year, and their business scope covers agriculture, forestry, fishery, aquatic product import and export, breeding livestock and poultry operations, food Internet sales and other fields. According to public reports, the reason for the name "1.8" is because of Jack Ma's original intention to participate in agriculture-all mothers in the world hope that their children can grow up healthily and be taller than 1.8 meters.
In November last year, Hangzhou Dajingtou 212 Culture and Art Co., Ltd. added a wholly-owned subsidiary, Hangzhou Majia Kitchen Food Co., Ltd., whose business scope includes food sales (only selling pre-packaged food), import and export of goods, and preliminary processing of edible agricultural products. This move was interpreted by the market as Jack Ma’s intention to enter the field of pre-made dishes.
At present, there is no unified standard in the prepared vegetable market, and the quality varies from good to bad, leaving a bad impression on the public. After the news that "Jack Ma is going to make pre-made dishes" spread, Chen Wei, Jack Ma's former assistant, posted on WeChat Moments to refute the rumor, saying that "Ma's kitchen does not make pre-made dishes." As for what he was doing, he did not disclose, but made it clear that "eating is the main road in the world, not a track for making big money through investment."
Although he has not entered the prepared vegetable market, judging from the above series of actions, Jack Ma's layout in the agricultural and food field has begun to take shape. At present, the agricultural and sideline products of “Yimiba” can be seen for sale on Tmall, Taobao, and Hema platforms, including deep-sea wild-raised large yellow croaker from the Nanji Islands in Zhejiang and fresh mussels from the Shengsi Islands in Zhoushan.
The industry believes that as people have higher and higher requirements for food safety, health and nutrition, the agricultural and food field has huge development potential and market space. Jack Ma also took a fancy to this point when he entered the game. Advanced technology will help improve the production efficiency of agricultural food.
Hugely increased its holdings of Alibaba shares and became the largest shareholder
In the past year, Alibaba's development has not been smooth. The group was split into six companies, executives were rotated, and the market value was overtaken by its "little brother" Pinduoduo. Compared with the peak of more than 800 billion U.S. dollars in 2020, Alibaba's market value has evaporated by more than 600 billion U.S. dollars in three years. As of the close of trading on January 26 this year, the total market value of Alibaba's U.S. stocks was 185 billion U.S. dollars.
In November last year, when Pinduoduo's market value surpassed Alibaba, Jack Ma rarely spoke on the Internet, congratulating Pinduoduo for its decision-making, execution and efforts in the past few years, and firmly believed that Alibaba would change, and Alibaba would change. "All great companies are born in winter. The era of AI e-commerce has just begun. It presents both opportunities and challenges to everyone."
In addition to cheering for Alibaba people on the intranet, Jack Ma is also supporting Alibaba with more practical actions. He and Tsai Chongxin have been buying Alibaba stocks.
Documents disclosed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission show that Tsai Chongxin purchased 1.9575 million shares of Alibaba's U.S.-listed shares in the fourth quarter of last year through the Blue Pool Management family fund, at a cost of approximately US$152 million. During the same period, Jack Ma increased his holdings of Alibaba Hong Kong shares worth US$50 million.
According to the Financial Associated Press, the combined shareholdings of Jack Ma and Tsai Chongxin have exceeded SoftBank’s shareholding ratio. In the past two years, SoftBank has reduced its shareholding ratio through forward contracts. Currently, it holds less than 0.5% of Alibaba's shares. Jack Ma replaced SoftBank as Alibaba's largest shareholder.
Industry analysts said that Jack Ma and Tsai Chongxin's substantial increase in Alibaba's holdings reflects their optimism about Alibaba's prospects and their confidence in the company's future development, management team and strategic direction. In addition, this also effectively responded to the rumors that Jack Ma was selling off Alibaba some time ago. Not only did Jack Ma "not sell one share", he was also constantly increasing his holdings.
In November last year, there were market rumors that the Jack Ma family trust entity would sell 10 million Alibaba shares, causing Alibaba's stock price to plummet. Later, Jiang Fang, partner and chief talent officer of Alibaba Group, responded on the intranet, "Jack Ma has not sold a single share." She also said that Jack Ma is firmly optimistic about Alibaba.
It is understood that in 2023, Alibaba repurchased a total of 897.9 million ordinary shares (equivalent to 112.2 million American depositary shares) at a total price of US$9.5 billion (approximately RMB 68 billion), making it the Chinese Internet company with the largest repurchase efforts.
At the beginning of 2024, the news that Jack Ma significantly increased his holdings in Alibaba was a positive signal for Alibaba and the entire market. We are looking forward to Alibaba's performance in the new year, and we are more concerned about what surprises Jack Ma will bring to the agricultural and food field.