Alibaba CEO: Here’s Why I Put Shareholders Last

MA: “If you want to invest in us, we believe customer [is] a number one, employee number two, shareholder number three. If they don’t want to buy that, that’s fine. If they regret, they can sell us.”
LOGAN: “In the U.S., the shareholder is usually first.”
MA: “Yeah. And I think they are wrong. The shareholder, good. I respect them. But they’re the third. Because you’ve take care of the customer, take care of the employees, shareholder taken care of.”
LOGAN (voice-over): “Ma’s unconventional view didn’t stop Wall Street from pouring $25 billion into his company, now listed on the New York Stock Exchange as ‘BABA.’ It’s an Internet shopping behemoth, a collection of online marketplaces where buyers and sellers connect to do business. Most of the company’s money comes from advertising and small transaction fees. On its most popular website, Taobao, users talk to each other, barter and engage in a way that doesn’t happen on American e-commerce websites and Alibaba says there are close to a billion products for sale.”
LOGAN: “If I’m buying a house, I can do everything from find an architect to buying doorknobs, to furnishing the entire thing from start to finish. What else?”
MA: “Yeah. You can buy anything, as long as it’s legal. Anything.”