ALIBABA

In just a decade and a half, Jack Ma, a man from modest beginnings who started out as an English teacher, founded Alibaba and built it into one of the worlds largest companies, an e-commerce empire on which hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers depend. In 201 4, Alibabas $25 billion IPO was the largest global IPO in history. A Rockefeller of his time, who is courted by CEOs and presidents around the world, Jack is an icon for Chinas booming private sector and the gatekeeper to hundreds of millions of middle-class con sumers.