Jack Ma is the founder and chief operating officer of Alibaba Group.

Born in the city of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, founded Alibaba.com, a business to business operator in 1999, a China-based business to business marketplace site which serves 25 million members from 200 countries.

Ma remains as chief executive officer and chairman of board after Yahoo! acquired a 40% economic stake (35% voting rights) in Alibaba. Alibaba.com Corp. is raising as much as US$1.33 billion in what is set to be the largest initial public offering by a Chinese technology operator, the company said in a preliminary prospectus for the Hong Kong listing. TechCrunch reports that it will be the second biggest internet IPO ever.

Alibaba is selling 858.9 million shares, or 17% of its enlarged share capital, at an indicative price range of 10 Hong Kong dollars to HK$12 (US$1.29 to US$1.55) each, according to the listing document.

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