Alibaba orphan: Ma Yuankun, Jack Ma's mysterious son
An alleged photo of Ma Yuankun, left, with Jack Ma. (Internet photo)
The hype surrounding the flotation of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has extended to the mysterious son of the company's eccentric founder Jack Ma.
The public listing of the Hangzhou-based Alibaba last Friday on the New York Stock Exchange has been dubbed the biggest IPO of all time after potentially raising as much as US$25 billion when taking into account options exercised by underwriters. With Jack Ma's stake in the group valued at around US$14 billion, he has been elevated to the title of China's wealthiest person as estimated by the Hurun Report, launched by Luxembourg publisher Rupert Hoogewerf.
Though Jack Ma's story from school teacher to billionaire internet entrepreneur has been well chronicled throughout the rise of Alibaba, very little is known about his son, Ma Yuankun.
What is known about Ma Yuankun is that he was born in 1992 and is currently an undergraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, where his father had audited history classes. Jack Ma is said to be renting an apartment in the Bay Area so he can spend more time with his son.
Ma Yuankun's mother, Zhang Ying, once revealed in an interview that she and her husband had more or less "sacrificed" their son for the sake of Alibaba, as they had sent him to child care five days a week and only saw him on weekends for the majority of his childhood.
At the age of 10, Ma Yuankun grew addicted to online gaming and spent most of his time at internet cafes, telling his parents that it was pointless coming home because they were never there anyway. Concerned about his future, Zhang stepped down as general manager of Alibaba and dedicated herself to looking after her son.
Jack Ma once told reporters that he wrote his son a letter on his 18th birthday, passing on three pearls of wisdom. One, always think for yourself and make independent judgments. Two, always remain optimistic — there may be a lot of problems in the world but there are even more ways to resolve them. Three, tell the truth, especially to your father.
In 2005, Jack Ma was said to have proudly shared a photo of his son with reporters during a flight, adding that the teenager was attending junior high school at the time but was already nearly as tall as his old man and already much better looking.
The college student remains the subject of various internet rumors in China, including one which claims that he had died of cancer.
References:
Jack Ma 馬雲
Ma Yuankun 馬元坤
Zhang Ying 張瑛
