Jack Ma is the founder and CEO of Alibaba Group. He was one of the 100 global "future leaders" of the 2001 World Economic Forum and the "commercial leader" of 2001 elected by US Commercial Association of Asia. Born in the city of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, Ma graduated from Hangzhou Teachers Institute in 1988 (he failed the entrance exam twice) and became a lecturer in English and International Trade. In 1985, a one-month visit to see an Australian pen pal he had met in Hangzhou changed his life. "Everything I'd learned in China was that China was the richest country in the world," he said. "When I arrived in Australia, I realized it's totally different. I started to think you have to use your own mind to judge, to think." After his return, Ma became the chairman of the Students' Union of the whole city. Jack Ma founded Alibaba.com in 1999, a China based business to business marketplace site. In 2003, Alibaba _ Taobao.com, a consumer to consumer auction   website similar to eBay. Ma said that he got most of his ideas while taking very long, hot showers. He likes to spend time walking his four dogs and playing chess and poker. He said, "I've learned a lot of business philosophy by playing poker." Looking ahead, Ma said that he dreamed of using his group's resources to improve the lives of all Chinese people, especially the 900 million farmers. "There must be some way of using our experience, our know-how, and make their life easier," he said. It was   _   that changed his mind greatly.
his pen pal his experience in China his failure in the entrance exam his experience in Australia