We've all become very cognizant of Jack(千斤顶) and his story. And when Alibaba went public with the largest IPO in history, we knew a lot more about him. So I want to talk about his personal story. I want to talk about how many times he tried and failed and what kept him going. I want to talk about where he is today and how he got here. I began with this question, though( 虽然), Jack.
Why are you back at Davos? It's a long break for seven years. I think my last trip here was year 2008. But I was coming for year 2001 for the young global(全球的) leader for tomorrow. And I think, remember, I never heard about Davos when I came. But when I came, in the Switzerland, so many young people demonstrate(证明).
It was such a horrible( 令人恐惧的) thing that I was-- and I asked them, why did they do it? They say, anti(反对者 a反对的)-globalization( 全球化). And I say, why? Globalization is a great thing. Why people don't like it? And then we come all the way for two hours here.
There's a machine gun. There's a people checking us. And they say, oh, god, is that a fallen(倒下的) or is that a prison? We're going to go inside. But when I joined the fallen at the young global leader, I was thrilled by so many ideas. For the first three, four years, I learned what does the globalization mean?
What does the corporate(社团的) citizenship([法] 公民身份) mean? What about social responsibility( 责任) mean? All these new ideas. And I see so many great leaders talking about leadership(领导). And I benefit(有益于) a lot. And in year 2008 and 2009, when the financial(财政的) crisis(危机) came, I think it's better to go back to work.
Because we can never win the world by talking. So go back, spend seven years. Now I come back, I think it's time to do something return. Because I learned so much. That's 12 years ago. So why not talking to the young global leader of today, shelling( 剥去…的壳) with them how we gone through.
So that was the thing. Let's start with where you are today. Just how big is Alibaba? How many people come every day? How many people come in a week? How fast is it growing?
Yeah, we have over 100 million buyers(买主) visiting our shop and our site every day. And we created-- 100 million every day. We created 14 million jobs for China(瓷器) directly(直接地) and indirectly(间接地). And we grow from 18 people to 30,000 people, 18 people in my apartment, to now we have four big campers. Compared to 15 years ago, we were big. But compared to 15 years later, we're still a baby.
How big will you be 15 years from now? I think 15 years ago, I told my team that in the past 15 years, we grow from nothing to this size. And 15 years later, I want people to see know about Alibaba, know Taobao, because it's already everywhere. I want 15 years ago, when we talk about what is e-commerce(商业), why small business can use these e-commerce, those internet, can do business cross the nation(民族). And I hope 15 years later, people forget about e-commerce because they think it's like electricity. Nobody think it's a high tech today.
This is something that I don't want 15 years later. We still walk on the street talking about why and how e-commerce can help people. You tried to get into three colleges. Each time they rejected(拒绝) you. No, I tried there's examination(考试) that young people, if you want to go to university, have to take the examinations. So I failed three times, but a lot of fail.
I failed for funny things, that I failed a key primary(最初的) school test for two times, and I failed like(喜欢) three times for the middle school, middle schools. And you will never believe in Hangzhou, my city, there's only one middle school that lasts only one year. It was changed from primary school to middle school because our graduates(授予…学位) of our school, no middle school accept us because we were too bad. They would become a middle school. What effect did it have, though, being rejected? Well, I think we have to get used( 用过的) to it.
We're not that(那么〔大、多等〕〔尤指通过手势比画来表示大小、数量等〕) good. Even today, we still have a lot of people reject us. I think when I graduated from universities, and for three years, I tried to fail in the universities, so I applied jobs for 30 times, got rejected. I went for a police, they said, no, you're not good. I went to even the KFC. When KFC came to China, come to my city, 24 people went for the job, 23 people accepted.
I was the only one guy. And we went for police, five people, four of them accepted. I was the only guy that I received it. So to me, being turned down, rejected. Oh, by the way, I told you that I applied for Harvard(哈佛大学(美国)) for 10 times rejected(拒绝). I know I'll be rejected, I just want to say that.
Yeah, sorry now. 10 times, you wrote them and said, I'd like to come to Harvard. Yeah. And then I told myself, someday I should go teach there, baby. I think that can be arranged. Richard Nixon came to Hangzhou.
And after that, tourists flooded(淹没) the place. And that's how you learned English. Yeah. I really like the-- I don't know why in 12, 13 years or so, that time, I suddenly fell in love into the language, the English. And there's no place you can learn English at that time. There's no books, English books.
So I went to the Hangzhou Hotel now called Hangzhou Shangri-La Hotel, because that was the hotel can receive the foreign visitors. So every morning for nine years, I showed them around as a free guide. And they told me English. And I think that changed me. I'm 100% made in China. I've never got a one-day train outside China.
And when people talk to me, say, Jack, how can you speak English like that? Why sometimes you talk like Western( 西方的) guys? I think that was the nine years. These Western tourists opened my mind. Because everything they told me are so different from the things I learned from the schools and from my parents. So now I have a habit.
Whatever(任何) I see, whatever(任何) I read, I use my mind. Think about it for two minutes. Why does that have Ma Jun became Jack Ma? Actually, Jack, the name was given(做) by a lady in tennis. She's a tourist that she came here. And she said she came to Hangzhou.
We become a pen friends. Ma Ring is so difficult to pronounce. So she said, do you have an English name? I said, don't. So can you give me an English name? She said, OK.
She said, my father called Jack, my husband called Jack. What do you think about Jack? I said, good. So I'll be using that for that many years.