--- description: Find out why Jack Ma is on the TIME100 Most Influential People in Philanthropy 2025 list. title: TIME100 Philanthropy: Jack Ma image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt26e20dce927514b2/6998c6bf47fe515f5855bb9d/T100PHIL-Leaders-Jack-Ma.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- May 20, 2025 # Jack Ma Lifting up rising leaders by [Charlie Campbell](/author/charlie-campbell/) ## Charlie Campbell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Editor at Large  Costfoto/Future Publishing/Getty Images Jack Ma, China’s first self-made tech mogul, founded Alibaba in his Hangzhou flat in 1999, then propelled the e-commerce start-up into Asia’s most valuable company. In doing so, the former English teacher became one of the continent’s wealthiest men—with an estimated net worth of nearly $27 billion. After a falling out with the Chinese government over economic policy in late 2020, Ma stepped down as chair of Alibaba, largely withdrawing from public life to concentrate on philanthropy. His Jack Ma Foundation, founded in 2014, focuses its efforts on education, entrepreneurship, medical and environmental protection, and women’s leadership programs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ma donated millions of masks and medical supplies to over 150 countries, leveraging Alibaba’s logistics to aid public health. More recent initiatives range from global (Ma is on the awards council for Prince William’s EarthShot Prize, which helps find and fund innovative climate solutions) to local: in January, Ma celebrated the tenth year and 1,001st awardee of his Rural Teachers Initiative, which annually provides 100 outstanding rural school teachers in China with funding and training. “Help small guys,” Ma has said. “Because small guys will be big. Young people will have the seeds you bury in their minds, and when they grow up, they will change the world.” TIME100 Philanthropy: Jack Ma ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-philanthropy-2025/7286036/jack-ma/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-philanthropy-2025/7286036/jack-ma/"},"headline":"Jack Ma","datePublished":"2025-05-20T11:30:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T02:29:30.143Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time100-philanthropy-2025/7286036/jack-ma/","keywords":["list","franchise"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt26e20dce927514b2/6998c6bf47fe515f5855bb9d/T100PHIL-Leaders-Jack-Ma.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlie Campbell","jobTitle":"Editor at Large","url":"https://time.com/author/charlie-campbell/"}],"creator":"Charlie Campbell","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt26e20dce927514b2/6998c6bf47fe515f5855bb9d/T100PHIL-Leaders-Jack-Ma.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-philanthropy-2025/7286036/jack-ma/","name":"Jack Ma"}}]}] ```