How did Alibaba start?

Ma, a former English teacher who claims to have never written a line of computer code, had dabbled in various ventures with mixed success before friends introduced him to the internet while on a 1990s trip to the United States.

With Amazon already making waves in online shopping, Ma convinced a group of Chinese and foreign friends to front $60,000 in 1999 for a business-to-business e-commerce venture.

Ma dubbed it “Alibaba” because the name is easily pronounced in virtually any language, including Chinese, and because the “open sesame” catchphrase signified that its platforms “open a doorway to fortune for small businesses”, according to the company.