Although Alibaba often cites the SARS outbreak as a catalyst for public interest in contactless e-commerce, the epidemic nearly pushed the company to the brink of collapse. When employees contracted SARS after attending the Canton Fair in Guangzhou, Hangzhou entered a state of emergency, implementing large-scale isolation measures that affected over 500 people. The Mayor of Hangzhou, who had visited the city the day before, and his entourage were also forced into isolation. During this period, Alibaba employees were too afraid to reveal their workplace to others when going out.
All employees worked from home. While many companies might have disbanded under such circumstances, Alibaba’s operations continued. Employees transferred their work phones to their residences, and even the elderly family members got used to picking up the phone and saying, "Hello, Alibaba" as their first words.
Taobao, which was still under a confidentiality period at the time, was also affected. On May 10, Taobao successfully launched. However, due to SARS isolation restrictions, the launch event was extremely modest, even desolate—there were no flowers, banquets, flashbulbs, upbeat music, or crowds. "In the somewhat silent bedroom, lying on the bed, Ma Yun faced the ceiling and slowly raised his glass, devoutly and silently praying: May Taobao have a smooth journey. However, Ma Yun was not alone, because he knew that at that same moment, the same ritual was being performed simultaneously in more than a dozen residential homes scattered across Hangzhou."
Consequently, May 10 was designated as "Alibaba Day" to reflect on the hardships of the SARS era and to express gratitude to employees' families for their participation. Ma Yun also frequently reminded employees in his annual Spring Festival emails: "On New Year's Eve at 8 PM, our old habit: we raise a glass to the empty air to give thanks and offer blessings."
Eight: Completely Blocked by the Giant
When Taobao was founded, the domestic C2C market was already dominated by eBay. In 2003, after eBay merged with EachNet, their combined market share exceeded 90%. Whether in technology, funding, talent, market share, or brand influence, eBay-EachNet held an absolute advantage and boldly claimed that Taobao could only survive for 18 months.
Taobao faced a complete blockade from eBay. eBay purchased keyword ads for "Taobao" in search engines and signed exclusive advertising contracts with major mainstream websites for one year. They even erected an eBay-EachNet billboard directly across from Taobao's office. Taobao had to resort to advertising on smaller websites, but often, just days after placing an ad, eBay-EachNet would buy out all online trading-related ad space on that website at two to three times the price.
With mainstream online channels inaccessible, Taobao shifted its advertising to buses, elevators, and subway trains.
Today, Taobao has become one of the most visited e-commerce websites globally.
Nine: Accused of Donating Only 1 Yuan for the Wenchuan Earthquake Despite Giving 47.447 Million
During the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, numerous companies announced donations for the disaster areas. At that time, an article titled "Ma Yun Donates 1 Yuan for Wenchuan: His Calmness Chills the Spine" spread widely on forums like Tianya and NetEase, and via QQ groups. The article claimed, "Ma Yun only donated one yuan... One yuan is enough to express an attitude... He is evading responsibility... Putting victims' lives in jeopardy is no different from indirect violence."
During the national mourning, Ma Yun, labeled as someone who "only donated 1 yuan," quickly sparked public outrage. The forums were flooded with comments like "Ma Yun get out" and "Never shopping on Taobao again."
However, this was a complete fabrication. At the time, Ma Yun was abroad. Upon hearing the news, he immediately donated 1 million RMB. Subsequently, the company, employees, and users joined in, ultimately raising 47.447 million RMB in donations. The fabricators distorted the truth, allowing malicious competitors to profiteer from the disaster.
In addition to direct donations, Alibaba later provided targeted support for the Qingchuan disaster area and leveraged its e-commerce platform advantages to build sales platforms for the people of Qingchuan.
Currently, two public welfare funds are closely associated with Alibaba Group: one is the Group Public Welfare Fund, starting with 50 million RMB, supplemented annually by 0.3% of annual revenue, making it the first environmental protection fund among Chinese internet companies. The second is a special personal public welfare fund established by Ma Yun and Joe Tsai by donating parts of their shares. This fund is approximately 2% of Alibaba Group's market value, estimated between $2 billion and $4 billion, and is also the largest personal public welfare fund in China.
Ten: The Farce of "Stealing Alipay"
In 2011, the incident regarding "Ma Yun stealing Alipay" caused a massive uproar. Yahoo disclosed that Alipay, under Alibaba Group, had been spun off, attracting widespread attention. Many commentators accused Ma Yun of acting in self-interest and forcibly transferring Alipay to his own name. A prominent financial publisher even criticized Ma Yun for "stealing the day" and "failing to observe the principle of contract," stating it could "directly affect overseas investors' trust in Chinese companies."
As the incident became clearer, the public realized that the so-called "theft" did not hold up. Management had discussed the transfer multiple times in board meetings, and all parties were aware of it. The primary reason for the transfer was to comply with the regulations of the People's Bank of China and to sustainably support the development of businesses like Taobao. Ultimately, Yahoo, SoftBank, and Alibaba Group reached a complete agreement. Yahoo and SoftBank stated that this move "would maintain the value of Taobao, allow all parties to share Alipay's profits, and ensure that Alibaba Group receives value realization when Alipay lists."
Ma Yun's shareholding in Alipay was the same as his stake in Alibaba Group, both less than 8%, which completely debunked the rumors of him seizing Alipay by force.
"A man's chest is expanded by grievances," Ma Yun said himself. When looking at the achievements of Alibaba and Ma Yun, one must not ignore the hardships and sufferings upon which these achievements are built.
