This document summarizes the background and career of Jack Ma, the founder and former CEO of Alibaba Group. It details that Ma was born in China in 1964, failed the university entrance exam three times, and worked as an English teacher before starting his internet career. In 1999, Ma founded Alibaba in his apartment with 17 friends, and grew it into one of the largest e-commerce companies in the world through competing in the Chinese market rather than internationally.