Can Jack Ma, Asia’s richest man, create 1m jobs in the US

The Manchester Guardian ^ | July 30, 2017 | Benjamin Haas

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Jack Ma is working the White House, with a promise to reduce the number of unemployed workers by 14%.

Jack Ma was destined to live an ordinary life. He failed the Chinese university entrance exam several times before being accepted by the worst school in Hangzhou, and he was rejected from a dozen jobs – even selling chicken at KFC. Ma was ready to settle into a quiet life as an English teacher in eastern China, a position with few advancement prospects, when, during a trip to Seattle in 1995 working as a translator for a trade delegation, everything changed.

A friend showed Ma the internet. He placed a toe on to the information superhighway with a one-word search – “beer” – and, two decades later, Ma is the richest man in Asia, head of an e-commerce and finance empire that includes Alibaba, one of the largest retailers in the world.

Now Ma has once again set his sights on the US. In a high-profile meeting with Donald Trump before the inauguration, Ma promised to create 1m jobs in the US, and has wasted no time ingratiating himself into Trump’s inner circle. He has dined alone with Ivanka Trump, and last week commerce secretary Wilbur Ross sat next to Ma at a meeting of US and Chinese businessmen. Those political connections may benefit him as he seeks to acquire American companies in a country that is increasingly wary of big Chinese investment.....

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Alibaba’s strength has always been solving inefficiencies

Healthcare is the most inefficient sector of our economy. We could do worse than asking Ma to fix it.