Alibaba founder Jack Ma takes up visiting professorship

Reuters 05 May 2023

Jack Ma, co-founder and former chairman of Alibaba Group, has been invited to be a visiting professor at Tokyo College, a new organisation run by Japan’s University of Tokyo, reports Reuters.

The appointment term for China's best-known entrepreneur finishes at the end of October, but the contract is renewable on an annual basis, the university said on Monday 1 May. At the college, Ma will be engaged in areas including advising on important research themes and giving lectures on management and business start-ups.

The announcement came after Ma returned to China in March, ending a stay overseas of more than a year that industry viewed as reflecting the sober mood of the country’s private businesses after a tough two-year regulatory crackdown.
Full report on the Reuters site

Meanwhile, Zhou Xin writes in the South China Morning Post that Jack Ma has accepted the appointment as an honorary professor at the University of Hong Kong. Ma (58) who retired from Alibaba, one of Asia’s largest technology companies, in 2019, was invited to be an honorary professor in the faculty of business and economics on 1 April for a three-year term ending in March 2026, according to an announcement on the faculty’s website.
Full report on the South China Morning Post site

And in The New Times, Jade Natacha Iriza reports that the African Leadership University in Kigali, Rwanda, has appointed Ma as a visiting professor in a move expected to inspire young African entrepreneurs and equip them with the skills needed to dream big and pursue their entrepreneurial aspirations with greater passion and determination.
Full report on The New Times site

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