In 1995 Jack Ma had a small part time job working as a interpreter at a university in China. He was offer a small gig in Seatle. That job was a life changing event for Jack. It was there in Seattle that Jack Ma first ever saw and touched a computer. On top of that, the computer had internet access. The internet was pretty much unheard of in China at that time. Jack Ma taught himself english at the age of 12 by giving Americans tours of Hangzhou. Upon returning to China, Jack Ma rounded up 18 of his friends and they all pitched in their money. Alibaba was born. Today, Alibaba has around 14 million registered users from almost 200 countries and receives about 500,000 visitors per day.

Congratulations to Jack Ma!