Entrepreneurship Development

Jahangirnagar University
Assignment On
“Five Successful Entrepreneurs in China”
Submitted to:
Shahriar Kabir
Associate Professor
Institute of Business Administration
IBA-JU

Submitted by:
Mir Abdullah Al-Mahfuz
ID No: 202001014
WMBA-23rd batch
Submission Date: 10-10-2020

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Introduction

Entrepreneurship is the art of starting a business, basically a startup company offering

creative product, process or service. I can say that it is an activity full of creativity. An
entrepreneur perceives everything as a chance and displays bias in taking decision to
exploit the chance [1].

An entrepreneur is a creator or a designer who designs new ideas and business processes
according to the market requirements and his/her own passion. To be a successful
entrepreneur, it is very important to have managerial skill and strong team building
abilities. Leadership attributes are a sign of successful entrepreneurs. Some political
economists regard leadership, management ability, and team building skills to be the
essential qualities of an entrepreneur [1].

An entrepreneur is an innovator or a creator who introduces something new to the firm or

economy. It can be a new method of production, a new product, a new source of material,
a new market or any other similar innovation. Thus, an entrepreneur is an innovator,
creator, borrower, purchaser, etc. [1]. Some famous entrepreneurs are Jack Ma, Zhong
Shanshan, Eric Yuan, Zong Qinghou, Ma Huateng and so on. In this article, I will
describe these successful entrepreneurs in china briefly.

Motivation – An Important Factor

Almost all the entrepreneurs have agreed that motivation is a vital factor behind a
successful entrepreneur. The performance of an entrepreneur is dependent on his/her
ability and willingness to perform. Here, by ability i mean a function of education,
experience and skill and by willingness i mean to perform depending upon the level of
motivation. Motivation is one of the fundamental factors required for an entrepreneur to
promote his/her ideas [1].

The term motivation has been derived from the word ‗motive‘ which is nothing but what
prompts any person to act in a particular manner. Motives are the definition of a person‘s
goals, dreams and needs. They direct human behavior to towards achieving their goal [1].

When everything is properly organized, then what is the need of motivation?

The following points answer this question and give an idea why motivation is an
important factor for an entrepreneur –

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Tough competition − An entrepreneur needs to face tough competition, in order to sustain

and make a mark in this global market. To cope with this competition, motivation is
required at each stage of the firm [1].

Unfavorable environment − Nobody knows what the future holds. One has to take care of
the current economy and should be prepared for the worst situations of deteriorating
economic conditions. For this, motivation and optimism is essential [1].

To create public demand − Market runs by the people and for the people. To run a
business profitably, it is required to create a public demand for your product or service in
the market and attract as many customers as possible. To do this in the right way,
motivation is required [1].

To enhance creativity − Market always wants something new and different. If every firm
offers the same product without any variation then there is no point of preferring one
brand in particular. To sustain one has to be innovative. Add some new features in the
existing products and services make them more user friendly in a considerable budget.
This requires motivation too [1].

To increase productivity − It is very important to take care of the quality of the product as
well as the profit. People will always prefer a product which is cost efficient and of good
quality. So, motivation is required for increase the productivity [1].

Thus motivation plays a unique role in establishing a company by frequently boosting the
entrepreneur to do effective things efficiently.

What motivates them to be entrepreneur?

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Many research studies have been conducted by researchers to understand and answer this
question so that the factors that motivate people to take all the risk and start a new
enterprise can be identified [1].

The 6Cs that motivate entrepreneurs to establish their own business are as follows –

Change − Entrepreneurs frequently want change, not only change; they also want to be
the bearers of change. They are solution givers and want to interrupt the status quo. They
have a vision like "I want to assemble the world's information" or "I want to put an AC at
every desk" and they take an attempt to make this change. In this attempt, some succeed
and some fail [1].

Challenge − Some people love challenges and they opt for starting a new business as it is
very challenging to handle big problems. These people find typical job in a big corporate
as boring and not challenging enough [1].

Creativity − Running one‘s own business is all about being more creative and having the
independence to make new discoveries. One needs to have an infinite room to welcome
and introduce creativity in a small business [1].

Control − Some people tend to start a business because they don't want to be pushed
around and work for a product/company in which they have no way to shape their
destiny. They want to be their own boss having their own time, own pace, location of

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their choice, employees of their choice and have a progressive role in deciding the
direction of the company [1].

Curiosity − Successful entrepreneurs are always anxious and ask − "what if we do X this
way?‖ They want to have more than one option to do a work and choose the best one
from them. They want to understand the customer's perceptions, point of views, markets
and competitors. They are frequently anxious to see how their particular theory like
"people want to do A with B" works. In this aspect, they can‘t be differentiated from a
scientist who is trying to prove his theorem [1].

Cash − The last but not the least part is the cash. Money says it all. Many
nonentrepreneurs have a misconception that cash comes first for entrepreneurs but this is
never really true. If this would be the case, then there is no reason for an Ellison or Gates
to keep expanding their business aggressively after they have made more than billion
dollars. However, money is not the primary motivation [1].

From the above discussion, it can be said that the highest motivating factor is the urge to
get something or the drive to do something differently.

Results of Motivation

Successful entrepreneurship needs determination, freedom, discipline, connectivity and

an abundance of skills in planning. People with a complete package of physical strength
combined with perseverance, mental strength, and self-discipline have the passion and
urge to succeed. With proper motivation, we get the following outcomes –

Heavy industrialization − Tremendous growth can be seen in industrialization. Example:

Companies like Alibaba, Zoom Inc etc. have been set up and are flourishing.

Self-employment − A common man gets a chance to make a difference, set a new

standard of industrial growth. Example: Entrepreneurs like Jack Ma, Zhong Shanshan,
Eric Yuan, Zong Qinghou, Ma Huateng are born.

Economic growth − When there is growth in an individual‘s economy, there is a growth

in the company‘s economy, which in turn results in the growth of that particular area and
country.

Creating new jobs − More entrepreneurship leads to more job openings. More job
openings lead to more employment opportunities.

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Proper social benefit − When a country‘s economy grows or increases we see that more
advanced and proper social benefits are provided to the general public like construction
of roads, school, hospital, colleges, etc.

Entrepreneurial drive is the inbuilt encouragement some people possess to make

something happen. It is the energy that pushes one forward as a founder and forces not to
give up in the face of failure, ultimately leading to success [1].

Jack Ma – Chinese Business Magnate

Native name: 马云 (Mǎ Yún)

Date of birth: 10 September 1964 (age 52)

Place of birth: Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

Residence: Hangzhou

Occupation: Founder and Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group

Spouse(s): 张瑛 (Cathy Zhāng Yīng)

Children: 2 [2].

Figure: Jack Ma, co-founder and former executive chairman of Alibaba Group.

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Early Life

Jack Ma was born on September 10, 1964, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. He is a

Chinese business magnate who is the founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group,
a family of successful Internet-based businesses. He is one of the world‘s greatest living
examples of entrepreneurship today. Once a poor lad who survived by guiding tourists,
Ma left no stone unturned to rise above his humble condition and achieve success [2].
One of the first steps he took in this regard was to improve his communication skills by
learning English. Jack was one of the first few individuals who saw Internet as a business
opportunity even at a time when the rest of the world didn‘t believe in his thoughts. After
starting his first venture using a mere $20000, the entrepreneur earned around $800,000
in a matter of just three years [3].

However, it is the e-commerce based venture, ‗Alibaba‘, which he founded in the early
2000s that catapulted this entrepreneur to global fame. The revenue earned by the firm
has helped him reach the zenith of success and made him the richest man in China. He
even co-founded a few other similar ventures which were also successful to a great
extent; one of these was the e-commerce website called ‗Taobao‘. Jack has also been a
recipient of many awards over the years; a few of these include featuring in world-
renowned magazines such as ‗Forbes‘, ‗Time‘ and others [4].

Childhood and Educational Life

Jack Ma was born Ma Yun in 1964 in Hangzhou during China‘s Cultural Revolution,
during which his family was persecuted because of his grandparents, who were members
of the Nationalist party that opposed the Communist party. If few things can characterize
Jack Ma‘s background, education and path to success, they are failure, rejection, fighting,
resolve, hard work, agility and vision. All throughout Jack Ma‘s life, from childhood till
building a multibillion-dollar global ecommerce technology giant, he has failed many
times, been rejected and called crazy, even by his father who warned him about his
unique ―dangerous‖ ideas that could have resulted in his imprisonment in an earlier
generation [5].

Later in his youth, Ma struggled to attend college. The Chinese entrance exams are held
only once a year and it took Ma four years to pass. After that, Ma attended Hangzhou
Teacher‘s Institute (currently known as Hangzhou Normal University) and graduated in
1988 with a B.A. in English. While at school, Ma was the head of student council. After
graduation, he became a lecturer of English and International Trade at Hangzhou Dianzi

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University. He later enrolled at Beijing-based Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business

(CKGSB) and graduated in 2006 [6].

Personal Life

Ma met his wife Zhang Ying when they were studying at Hangzhou Normal University.
They married shortly after graduating in the late 1980s. Both began working as teachers.
The couple later became parents to two children, a son as well as a daughter [7].

According to Ma and his assistant, Ma had been studying and practicing Chen-style Tai
Chi Chuan, a Chinese martial arts form; in Hangzhou for some time when in 2009 he
began studying with Wáng Xī‘an, a well-known martial arts master and teacher. In 2011,
Ma hired several tournament-winning Tai Chi players to teach at Alibaba. Wang, Jet Li,
and Ma teach regular classes at Alibaba, at which attendance by employees is mandatory.
Ma‘s vision, according to his assistant, is that one day people will remember him above
all as a Tai Chi master, rather than solely as the founder of China‘s largest internet
company and online shopping website [8].

Working Career

In the mid 1990‘s Jack got to know about the existence of the internet and began seeing
this new trend in technology as a great business opportunity.

1994, Mr. Ma heard about the Internet. In early 1995, he went to the US and with his
friends‘ help he got introduced to the Internet. During his first encounter he searched the
word ―beer‖. Although he found information related to beer from many countries, he was
surprised to find none from China. Further, he tried to search for general information
about China and again was surprised to find none. So he and his friend created an ―ugly‖
website related to China. Within five hours of creating the website he had received emails
from some Chinese wishing to know about him. This is when Ma realized that the
Internet had something great to offer [9].

In April 1995, Mr. Ma, his wife and a friend went around, asked for USD 20,000, and
started their first company. Their company was dedicated to creating websites for
companies. He named their company ―China Yellow Pages.‖ Within three years, his
company had made 5,000,000 Chinese Yuan which was equivalent to USD 800,000 [9].

Ma began building websites for Chinese companies with the help of friends in the US. He
has said that ―the day we got connected to the Web, I invited friends and TV people over

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to my house,‖ and on a very slow dial-up connection, ―we waited three and a half hours
and got half a page…. We drank, watched TV and played cards, waiting. But I was so
proud. I proved (to my house guests that) the Internet existed.‖ At a conference in 2010,
Ma revealed that he has never actually written a line of code nor made one sale to a
customer. He acquired a computer for the first time at the age of 33 [10].

His success in the field of internet, led to Jack‘s appointment as the head of a firm
governed by the agency ‗China International Electronic Commerce Center‘, in 1998. He
continued working in this IT-based firm for the next one year [10].

After stepping down from his responsibilities in 1999, Jack founded a company named
‗Alibaba‘ along with many other friends. The intention was to create a website which is
more like a one stop shop for business to business transactions [10].

In October 1999 and January 2000, Alibaba twice won a total of a $25 million foreign
venture capital investment. The program was expected to improve the domestic e-
commerce market and perfect an e-commerce platform for Chinese enterprises, especially
small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to address World Trade Organization
(WTO) challenges. Ma wanted to improve the global e-commerce system and from 2003
he founded Taobao Marketplace, Alipay, Ali Mama and Lynx. After the rapid rise of
Taobao, eBay offered to purchase the company. However, Ma rejected their offer, instead
garnering support from Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang with a $1 billion investment [10].

In September 2014 it was reported Alibaba was raising over $25 billion in an initial
public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange. Alibaba became one of the most
valuable tech companies in the world after raising $25 billion, the largest initial public
offering in US financial history. Ma now serves as executive chairman of Alibaba Group,
which is a holding company with nine major subsidiaries: [Link], Taobao
Marketplace, Tmall, eTao, Alibaba Cloud Computing, Juhuasuan, [Link],
[Link] and Alipay. Ali Mama and Lynx. After the rapid rise of Taobao, eBay
offered to purchase the company. However, Ma rejected their offer, instead garnering
support from Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang with a $1 billion investment [10].

In September 2014 it was reported Alibaba was raising over $25 billion in an initial
public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange. Alibaba became one of the most
valuable tech companies in the world after raising $25 billion, the largest initial public
offering in US financial history. Ma now serves as executive chairman of Alibaba Group,
which is a holding company with nine major subsidiaries: [Link], Taobao

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Marketplace, Tmall, eTao, Alibaba Cloud Computing, Juhuasuan, [Link],

[Link] and Alipay [10].

In 2007, in response to worldwide criticism of the practice of killing sharks for their fins,
Ma announced that he and his family had ―sworn off shark fin soup now and forever.‖
Ma has stated that moment created a newfound interest in environmentalism that would
shape his future ethos. In January 2009, Alibaba Group revised its listing policy and
banned the sale of shark fin products on all of its e-commerce platforms [10].

In 2015 Ma made his first purchase of conservation land outside China when he bought a
28,100-acre property named Brandon Park in Paul Smiths, New York, in Adirondack
Park for $23 million [10].

Ma has often been invited to lecture at universities such as the Wharton School at the
University of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University,
and Peking University [10].

As of 2016, Jack Ma is the owner of Château de Sours in Bordeaux, Chateau Guerry in

Côtes de Bourg and Château Perenne in Blaye, Côtes de Bordeaux [10].

On January 09, 2017, Jack Ma talked with President-elect Donald Trump at Trump
Tower about how to create 1 million US jobs in five years [10].

In 2011 it was announced that one of his companies had gained control of Alipay,
formerly a subsidiary of Alibaba Group, so as to ―comply with Chinese law governing
payment companies in order to secure a license to continue operating Alipay. Numerous
analysts reported that Ma sold Alipay to himself below market value without notifying
the board of Alibaba Group or the other major owners Yahoo and Softbank, while Ma
stated that Alibaba Group‘s board of directors were aware of the transaction. The
ownership dispute was resolved by Alibaba Group, Yahoo! and Softbank in July 2011
[11].

Awards, Achievement and Honors

In 2004, China Central Television and its viewers selected Mr. Ma as one of the ―Top 10
Business Leaders of the Year‖ [1].

In Sep 2005, World Economic Forum selected Mr. Ma as a ―Young Global Leader‖.
Fortune Magazine also selected him as one of the ―25 Most Powerful Businessperson in

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Asia‖. BusinessWeek also selected him as a ―Businessperson of the Year‖ in 2007, and
Barron‘s chose him as one of the 30 ―World‘s Best CEOs‖ in 2008 [11].

2009 was an eventful year in Jack‘s life; he secured a spot in ‗Time‘ magazine‘s list of
‗World‘s 100 Most Influential People‘. The internet giant also received the ‗2009 CCTV
Economic Person of the Year: Business Leader of the Decade Award‘ [11].

In 2010, Ma was selected by Forbes Asia as one of Asia‘s Heroes of Philanthropy for his
contribution to disaster relief and poverty [11].

Ma was awarded an honorary doctoral degree by the Hong Kong University of Science
and Technology in November 2013 [11].

In 2014 he was ranked as the 30th most powerful person in the world in an annual
ranking published by Forbes [11].

At the ‗Asian Awards‘ ceremony held in 2015, he was felicitated with the ‗Entrepreneur
of the year‘ award [11].

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Eric S. Yuan (Founder and CEO of Zoom)

Eric Yuan, the founder and CEO of video conferencing startup Zoom Technologies, Inc.,
built a $35 billion video conferencing empire in nine years. Yuan got the idea for Zoom
while trying to find a way to connect with his long-distance girlfriend. The 50-year-old
billionaire's net worth jumped 396.5% to $17.7 billion in 2020 so far, as the rest of the
world suffers through an economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Even
before the pandemic brought international travel to a halt, Yuan almost never took work
trips. He insisted on taking Zoom calls with clients so he could spend more time with his
kids [12].

Eric Yuan — the Founder and CEO of Zoom — was born in China (Tai‘An City,
Shandong Province) and lived in China until he was 27 years old. His Chinese Name: 袁
征 (Yuán zhēng) includes the character 征 (zhēng) which means ‗to go on an expedition /
journey‘. And there is no doubt, that the story of Zoom has been a journey for this
Founder. He studied both Masters and Bachelor Degrees in his home province of
Shandong and married at a young age of 22. Yuan emigrated to the U.S. from China in
1997 while he was living and working in Beijing. His visa applications were denied 8
times in a row over a 1.5 year period, but he kept persisting. On his 9th attempt, he was
successful [13].

Figure: The Inspiring Backstory of Eric S. Yuan, Founder and CEO of Zoom.

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Moving to Silicon Valley

In 1997, Yuan landed his first job in Silicon Valley as one of the first software engineers
at a young company called WebEx. In 2007, the firm WebEx got acquired by Cisco
Systems for USD $3.2 billion in a public takeover. He stuck with the company as it grew
from just 10 engineers to 800 worldwide. In 2006, prior to the acquisition, Eric completed
an MBA from Stanford Business School. Yuan went on to become Vice President of
Engineering, running engineering in the WebEx business [14].

Leaving WebEx

Post the acquisition, Yuan wanted to rebuild the WebEx product from the ground up.
However, Yuan wasn‘t successful in convincing his bosses to let it happen. So he left
Cisco to build that next generation solution of Zoom. In June 2011, after being with
WebEx for 14 years, Yuan left WebEx to start his own competitor business [15].

The Early Days

The company was incorporated April 2011 in the State of Delaware and was originally
known as SaaSbee. SaaSbee raised a total of $3 million in seed funding from people like
former WebEx CEO, Subrah Iyar and Yahoo Co-founder, Jerry [16].

The Beginning of Zoom

The startup later changed its name to Zoom Video Communications, Inc in 2012. In
August 2012, Zoom launched their first version of the product. Shortly after, their product
got reviewed by Walt Mossberg from the Wall Street Journal. A big moment for the new
startup. More recently, in a wide ranging interview with TechCrunch Journalist, Connie
Loizos — Yuan reflected on the early days [17].

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He said that in the early days engineers were the ones responsible for closing deals and
that ―we did not have a product manager, we did not have QA, we only had engineers.
Whenever we received a customer cancellation email, I personally replied back [to
them].‖ [18]

He mentioned in a separate interview that Zoom did not hire Marketing or Sales people
until the Company achieved over $1 million in Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR). A
phenomenal effort. Before that moment, everything was simply left to the engineers to do
— including closing sales [19].

It‘s clear from his interviews that Yuan gave priority to hiring engineers and focusing on
the Zoom product. Yuan himself, as one of the most experienced video conference
software engineers in the world, could see the power in focusing intently on good quality
engineering. In many ways, it worked very well for him [20].

Zoom attracted 45 engineers from Yuan‘s former company WebEx to leave their jobs and
join his new company — a phenomenal amount of engineers to poach from a former
employer [21].

An Unconventional Founder

In some ways, Yuan is also not your typical Silicon Valley Founder and CEO. He started
the company when he was 41 years old — an age that is definitely higher than the typical
age of Silicon Valley‘s entrepreneurial cohort [21].

Furthermore, Yuan is a solo Founder at Zoom, and many would say that being a solo
Founder goes against the conventional wisdom of Silicon Valley. Yet given this, Yuan has
had outstanding success in turning his company into a global tech unicorn [21].

Fundraising / IPO

Zoom since 2011 has raised huge amounts of venture capital including from some of the
most high profile figures in the industry, including Sequoia Capital and Li Ka-Shing‘s
venture capital fund. Li Ka-Shing is Asia‘s richest person [21].

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According to [Link], Zoom Video Communications has raised a total of $146

million over 6 separate fundraising rounds. In 2019, they listed on the NASDAQ and as
Forbes highlights in their 2019 article, Zoom is one of the rare tech unicorns that has
completed an IPO whilst being profitable [21].

Zoom Video Communications Inc (NASDAQ: ZM) as of 29th March 2020 has a market
cap of USD $42 billion, which puts it higher than Pinterest, Lyft . It also is very close to
Uber‘s market cap of USD $47 billion. The company has consistently achieved a market
cap of over USD $10 billion since IPO [21].

He is still down to earth. He said in an interview that, ―My beloved father passed away
just two months after I told him I was going to start a company. Whenever I make
progress in my career, I wish I could share the news with my father.‖

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Zhong Shanshan (The Richest Person in China)

Zhong was born in Hangzhou, a city in eastern China, in 1954. Zhong Shanshan chairs
Nongfu Spring, a bottled water company, which listed its shares in Hong Kong in early
September 2020. Hangzhou-born Zhong dropped out of elementary school during China's
chaotic Cultural Revolution [22].

He later had jobs as a construction worker, a newspaper reporter and a beverage sales
agent before starting his own business. Zhong also controls Beijing Wantai Biological
Pharmacy, which went public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in April 2020 [23].

Zhong became a reporter in the 1980s. He quit after a five-year stint to set up a bottled
water distributor business in Hainan, an island province in southern China. He founded
Yangshengtang, a health products brand, in March 1993 and Nongfu Spring, a beverage
brand in September 1996, according to Nongfu Spring's 2020 prospectus for an initial
public offering. Nongfu started publicly trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange in
September 2020 [24].

Figure: Zhong has surpassed Ma as China‘s wealthiest.

He acquired a majority stake in Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmaceutical Enterprise Co.

in 2001. The medical products company began trading publicly on the Shanghai
exchange in April 2020 [25].

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Figure: Zhong Shanshan, the chairman of Nongfu Spring Company.

A bottled-water and vaccine tycoon has become China‘s wealthiest person in a day also
marked by massive losses among the world‘s tech elite. Zhong Shanshan‘s net worth
reached $58.7 billion on Wednesday, $2 billion more than Jack Ma‘s, according to the
Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Zhong is now Asia‘s second-richest person, behind India‘s
Mukesh Ambani, and is the 17th wealthiest in the world, ahead of Charles Koch and Phil
Knight [26].

Nicknamed ―Lone Wolf‖ for his eschewing of politics and clubby business groups,
Zhong‘s fortune has jumped $51.9 billion in 2020, more than anyone else in the world
except [Link] Inc.‘s Jeff Bezos and Tesla Inc.‘s Elon Musk. Both suffered heavy
declines on Wednesday as tech stocks stumbled and Tesla plunged after its ―Battery Day‖
event fell short of expectations. Musk‘s fortune dropped by almost $10 billion [27].

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The initial public offering of bottled-water company Nongfu Spring Co. — which turned
out to be Hong Kong‘s most popular among retail investors — propelled Zhong to
China‘s top three richest earlier this month. That came after the April listing of vaccine
maker Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise Co. pushed his net worth to $20
billion by early August. Zhong now leads a wealth ranking in China that is typically
dominated by people who made their fortunes from tech companies [28].
While Zhong has surpassed Ma as China‘s wealthiest, the tech tycoon might soon regain
the top spot, which he‘s held for most of the past six years after Alibaba went public in
the U.S. Ant Group‘s IPO next month is poised to boost his fortune, with his stake
estimated at $28 billion if the company achieves the $250 billion valuation people
familiar with the matter have said it‘s targeting [29].

Last month was brutal for U.S. tech stocks, which tumbled the most since earlier this
month. The plunge in Musk‘s wealth was the biggest among the people on the
Bloomberg ranking of the world‘s 500 richest, followed by Bezos, whose net worth
dropped by $7.1 billion. Musk is now worth $93.2 billion and Bezos $178 billion. Zhong
added almost $4 billion Wednesday, more than anyone else in the index [30].

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Ma Huateng (Success Story of Tencent CEO)

Ma Huateng (also known as Pony Ma) chairs Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holdings, which
ranks among the nation's largest businesses by market cap. Tencent's popular social
messaging app WeChat has more than 1 billion users [31].

The group listed its music-streaming subsidiary, Tencent Music, on the New York Stock
Exchange in December 2018. In contrast to his outgoing rival at Alibaba, Ma has a low-
profile style that befits his engineering background. Ma cofounded Tencent in 1998. As of
2020, Ma Huateng‘s net worth is around $42.2 billion dollars. He is one of the wealthiest
businessmen across the globe, without a doubt [32].

Figure: Ma Huateng, cofounder and CEO of Tencent Holdings Ltd., one of the world‘s
largest Internet companies.

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Ma Huateng Early Life

Ma Huateng was born in Chaoyang, China, on the 29th of October 1971. When his
father, Ma Chenshu, got a job as a port manager in Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, the
young Ma accompanied him. Huateng was enrolled in Shenzhen University in 1989 and
then graduated in the year 1993 with a Bachelor of Science in computer science [32].

Ma Huateng Career

Ma Huateng‘s first work was with China Motion Telecom Development. He reportedly
earned $176 per month. During the same time, he also worked for the Shenzhen Runxun
Communications CO Ltd in the research and development of the internet calling services.

Huateng went on to co-found Tencent in 1998. The company‘s first product came after
Ma participated in a presentation for the ICQ, the world‘s first internet instant messaging
service, founded in the year 1996 by an Israeli company. In 2009, Huateng told China
Daily, he stated: ―If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants, we
knew our product had a future, but at that time, we just couldn‘t afford it.‖

In the year 2000, Ma turned to the US investment firm IDC and Hong Kong‘s telecom
carrier Pacific Century CyberWorks who bought 40% of the Tencent shares for $2.2
million. Moreover, 80% of the company‘s revenue came from deals struck with Telecom
operators who agreed to share the message fees [32].

Ma Huateng Honors & Achievements

‗Time‘ had honored Ma Huateng several times. He was featured on their list of the most
influential people in the world in 2007, 2014, and 2018. In the year 2015, Forbes featured
him on their list of the most powerful people across the globe. Fortune has included him
on their list of the top businessmen of the world in 2017 [32].

In 2018, CEOWORLD Magazine honored him with a place on their list of the ‗Most
Powerful People in the world‘. He has often been compared with Warren Buffett, one of
the most successful investors in the world [33].

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With a net worth of around $51.1 billion as of March 2018, Ma is the richest man in
China and the 14th richest man in the world. In November 2017, he became the first
Chinese businessman to be featured on Forbes list of the top 10 richest men in the world
[34].

Philanthropy

In 2016, Ma transferred US$2.3 billion worth of his personal Tencent shares to his
charitable foundation, the Ma Huateng Global Foundation (马化腾环球基金会).
However Forbes has not decreased his net worth as the shares are still listed under his
name [35].

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Zong Qinghou (Chinese entrepreneur, founder,

Chairman and CEO of the Hangzhou Wahaha Group)

Zong Quinghou is a Chinese billionaire entrepreneur who is the founder and chief
executive officer of the Hangzhou Wahaha Group which is a top beverage company of
China. He was ranked among the world‘s richest men with an estimated wealth of 11.6
billion dollars [36].

Figure: Zong Qinghou is a famous Chinese businessman and entrepreneur, well-known for founding and
heading the Hangzhou Wahaha Group, one of the largest companies in China and the largest beverage
company in the country. He also holds the title of being the richest man in China and the twenty–third
richest in the world, having an estimated personal wealth of 20 billion dollars.

Biography

Zong is a native of Zhejiang, and has had little formal education. After graduating from
secondary school, Zong worked at the Zhoushan salt farm. He returned home in 1979 on
the retirement of his mother, who was a teacher. He eventually returned to Hangzhou,

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and only found menial work at a local school due to the low level of his education. In
1987, he targeted a minigrocery in a school in Shangcheng District，Hangzhou, selling
milk. Zong headed the embryonic Wahaha business, which distributed fizzy soft drinks,
ice and stationery. Together with two retired schoolteachers, he borrowed the sum of
CNY 140,000, to start producing milk drinks for distribution [37].

He obtained independence from an early government partner by stressing his links with
Danone. With his autocratic style and workaholic ethic, he built Wahaha into the largest
beverage manufacturer in the People's Republic of China [38].

The WHH joint venture entered into with Groupe Danone involved the inward
investment of US$70 million in five joint venture companies in exchange for 51%
Groupe Danone ownership in each company. The trademark agreement signed on 29
February 1996 gave the JVs the exclusive rights of production, distribution and sales of
products under the Wahaha brand. Collaboration has grown into 39 joint venture entities
by 2007 [39].

In 2007, the relationship turned sour. Danone had accused Wahaha of "secretly operating
a set of parallel companies that mirrored the joint venture‘s operations with virtually
identical products and siphoned off as much as $100 million from the partnership."
Danone and Wahaha reached a settlement and dissolved their partnership. Zong resigned
as Chairman of the joint ventures on 5 June 2007 [40].

Personal

Zong has served as a delegate to the Chinese National People's Congress since 2002. He
was re-elected in 2007.

He is married to Shi Youzhen (施幼珍), and they have one child, a daughter, Kelly Zong
(宗馥莉). Shi is purchasing manager at Wahaha. Zong formerly held permanent resident
status in the United States, which he obtained in order to make it easier for him to travel
to the country and look after his investments there. His daughter attended Pepperdine
University in Southern California and naturalized as a U.S. citizen, but later moved back

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to China and in 2007 began the procedure to renounce her U.S. citizenship. Zong gained
wide support as he played the role of "David" against a French "Goliath" gobbling up
Chinese companies. However, with the revelation of his green card in 2008, public
perceptions changed and his reputation suffered. In 2013, he stated that because he did
not re-enter the U.S. for several years, his status was thus deemed abandoned [41].

Tax evasion allegations

Zong claimed to have been paid a salary of 3,000 EUR and 100,000 EUR annual
allowances plus a bonus worth 1% of the annual profit of the joint ventures, totaling
70 million yuan of income every year [42].
Caijing reported in April 2008 that Zong was being investigated for allegedly evading
taxes amounting to some ¥ 300 million. An investigator had alleged that Zong "...earned
far more than this and hasn't fully reported the tax for years". Caijing implied there may
have been less than transparent payments through web of Hong Kong-registered accounts
of Zong, Shi, daughter Fuli; and the former Party secretary of Wahaha, Du Jianying.
Zong had apparently paid more than 200 million yuan in back taxes in October 2007,
after the investigation kicked off. However, the magazine suspected Zong still owed
millions more. Forbes named Zong as China's richest man in 2010 [42].

Why Zong Qinghou is Extraordinary

It is well-known to many that hard work and diligence are keys to achieving success in
life. Add a dose of optimism and goal setting, and you are sure to get to where you want
to be. There are times that having a good background gives a person an advantage, but
what do you do if you did not start out as good as others? Let us explore the life of
Chinese business tycoon and billionaire Zong Qinghou, and learn the principles that
‗literally‘ got him from rags to riches [43].

Spends only $20 a Day (A hidden secret behind his success)

As wealthy as Zong Qinghou is, it is quite interesting to find out that China‘s richest
person prefers to live the simple life; he spends around 20 dollars a day and wears plain

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clothes and sneakers wherever he goes. In an interview made with Zong Qinghou, he
stated: ―People cannot tell if I were wearing clothes worth a thousand (US$160) or a
hundred (US$16), so why would I want to spend money on them?‖

Qinghou also prefers to eat simple foods, and has very little appetite for large banquets
and expensive meals. According to him, it is this kind of lifestyle that keeps him humble
and down to earth. And unlike many business owners or executives, Qinghou eats with
his workers during lunch and spends a lot of time with them. He has such a great
relationship with most of the workers in the company that they tend to call him ―big
brother‖ for his efforts in getting close to his people. In fact, Qinghou has never once
fired an employee for the entire course of his career as the head of the Hangzhou Wahaha
Group [43].

What is more surprising about this Chinese billionaire tycoon is his amazing rise to fame
and fortune. Coming from a very poor family who suffered during the failed ‗Great Leap
Forward‘ and ‗Cultural Revolution,‘ Qinghou literally worked his way up through thick
and thin by hard work and perseverance until he saw his dreams of having the good life
come into fruition [43].

A Success Story of Business Ethics

He states that being focused on doing one thing and doing it properly is both simple yet
difficult, but it ensures that you will succeed and achieve your goal. His work ethics have
kept him disciplined and have enabled him to succeed in areas where most others could
not [44].

Qinghou‘s view on philanthropic efforts is quite different from most of the people who
engage in philanthropic work. He is not a great believer in simply giving away money or
resources to the poor. He once told an interviewer, ―If you give money to the poor they‘ll
just spend it.‖

He promotes the importance of hard work, which he believes is the key to lifting the poor
out of poverty. This is the very reason he works to establish good relationships with his
employees—most of them come from the poor areas in society, which Qinghou chose
because he wanted to help his fellow people [44].

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Zong Qinghou‘s life serves as a powerful reminder to many of us that having a bad past
does not have to hinder you from living a good future. His undying commitment to
success, optimism, and diligence mark him a true inspiration and make us realize that we
can become the people of excellence that we aspire to be [44].

Conclusion

To be successful in sustainable business practices often requires entrepreneurship and

innovation. Entrepreneurialism is a virtue. It is the virtue of those who are looking to
reduce inefficiencies in the market and capitalize on this reduction. But it is also the
virtue of recognizing new possibilities, new markets, and alternative futures. The real
virtuosity of the entrepreneur is to realize when to opt for the first, Kirznerian, and when
for the second, Schumpeterian, mode of innovation. In both cases, entrepreneurs will be
trying to advance the market processes. Whether they are successful is down to how
society reacts, whether cooperative practices develop that incorporate the novelty created
by the entrepreneur [45].

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