Jack Ma takes up University of Hong Kong’s honorary professorship in pursuit of his post-retirement passion in education

HONG KONG — Mr Jack Ma has accepted the appointment as an honorary professor at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), as the co-founder and former chairman of Alibaba Group Holding pursues his lifelong passion for education after his 2019 retirement from one of Asia’s largest technology companies.

Mr Ma, who turned 58 in September, was invited to be an honorary professor in the Faculty of Business and Economics on April 1 for a three-year term ending in March 2026, according to an announcement on the faculty’s website.

Mr Ma will focus on conducting research in finance, agriculture and entrepreneurial innovations with the HKU faculty, with no plans for public lectures or speeches, according to people familiar with his plans.

The post is wholly owned by Alibaba.

"We are pleased to confirm Mr Ma is honoured to accept the invitation as we believe the appointment will put his entrepreneurial experience and ideas to effective use," the Jack Ma Foundation said in a statement.

"After a hiatus from the world of education, Mr Ma looks forward to returning to campus life and collaborating with faculty and students in his [HKU] appointment, while focusing his research on education and business innovation."

Mr Ma, who taught English at the Hangzhou Dianzi University in the Zhejiang provincial capital before embarking on a career in entrepreneurship, would be the highest-profile addition to the faculty of the HKU Business School, as the institution invites successful businesspeople to bring real-world relevance to its academic courses.

HKU was ranked 21st in the 2023 QS World University Rankings, while its Business and Economics course was 34th in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

Mr Ma is no stranger to HKU, having been conferred an honorary Doctorate in Social Sciences in 2018 before his retirement by Hong Kong's oldest tertiary institution. He has since relinquished all positions from Alibaba and has diluted his voting power in Ant Group, the fintech giant that operates the Alipay e-payment platform, among other financial services.

"When we started business, we had no money, no resources, we had nothing," Mr Ma said when he was conferred his honorary HKU doctorate, adding that he never dreamed of earning a PhD.

"The only thing we have is the belief in the future and in our dreams. We committed numerous mistakes, but we did one thing right: never give up."

In his new role, Mr Ma will work together with the HKU Business School faculty on different research subjects.

He was also appointed an honorary professor in innovation and technology by Israel's Tel Aviv University, which conferred an honorary doctorate on Mr Ma in 2018 and runs an innovation hub with HKU.

Mr Ma has also been conferred an honorary professorship by the University of Tokyo, according to people familiar with the matter.

Mr Ma, who famously said that he would rather "die on the beach than at the [office] desk", has travelled around the world in the past year of his retirement in pursuit of his interest in agriculture, as visits to his native Hangzhou were severely curtailed by drastic quarantines and controls in China's zero-Covid pursuit.

His travels took him to various parts of Europe, Japan, Thailand, Australia and Hong Kong, before his return to Hangzhou last month, where he met the faculty of the Hangzhou Yungu School — funded by Alibaba's partners, including Mr Ma - to discuss the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on education.

Still, he actively kept in touch with the initiatives that were endowed by his private foundation and delivered messages to the annual meeting for a rural Chinese teacher initiative.

He also remained on the advisory board of Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management, a position he kept since being appointed in 2013 with Apple's chief executive Tim Cook and the American venture capitalist Jim Breyer.

"He has long been an advocate of education and lifelong learning and remembers with affection his years as an educator," his foundation said.

"He remains passionate about sharing his entrepreneurial experiences and ideas with young people." SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST