Jack Ma shares thoughts on success, social advocacy with DLSU students

Alibaba Group Founder and Executive Chairman Jack Ma encouraged De La Salle University students to continue finding opportunities despite constant failures in an open dialogue last October 25 at the University’s Teresa Yuchengco Auditorium.

Sharing that he was not a great student as he failed a number of times in his entrance exams, from primary school to middle school to college, he said that they should pursue the dream they are most passionate about. He likewise shared his insights and experiences about success and failures, the future of entrepreneurship, and his advocacy on social development.

“How can young people have opportunities? We should enable them by technology and we should improve the education system,” he said, as he noted the importance of constant learning and development.

In his conversation with DLSU students, he highlighted the importance of UN social development goals and mission and responsibility. He also shared some words of encouragement with the audience, which was comprised of students, educators, and leaders in the business sector.

Best known for his innovation in e-commerce, Ma has received numerous awards from prestigious global institutions such as the “2015 Entrepreneur of the Year” at the Asian Awards and the “2009 CCTV Economic Person of the Year Award:  Business Leader of the Decade Award.” In addition, Ma was named 30th Most Powerful Person in the World” by Forbes Magazine in 2014, “Business Person of the Year” by Business Week in 2005, and “World’s 100 Most Influential People” by Time Magazine in 2009.

As a leader and philanthropist, he has supported and served in various advocacy and socio-civic organizations which include: being the Founder of the Jack Ma Foundation, Co-Chairman of Paradise Foundation, Special Adviser to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development for Youth Entrepreneurship and Small Business, United Nations Special Advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals, and Member of the Global Board of Directors of The Nature Conservancy.

During the event, DLSU honored Ma by awarding him an honorary degree in Technopreneurship, honoris causa. “This is a great university with a long history and a great mission, and the thing that I feel most excited about is that this university carries the SDG or the Sustainable Development Goals. As one of the UN’s advocate for that, I feel extremely happy for our school to continue this mission,” he said.

Other notable personalities who have received honorary degrees from DLSU in the past years include Nobel Laureate for Physics David Jonathan Gross, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Richard Heck, former Timor-Leste President and Nobel Laureate for Peace Jose Ramos-Horta, Nobel Laureate for Economics Eric Maskin, Nobel Laureate for Economics Robert Mundell, Nobel Laureate in Literature Mario Vargas Llosa, former President of Poland and Nobel Laureate for Peace Lech Walesa, Nobel Laureate for Medicine Torsten Wiesel, former World Bank President James Wolfensohn, and Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Ada Yonath.