????中國(guó)在線零售商阿里巴巴集團(tuán)（Alibaba Group）的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人馬云一向很愿意跟聽(tīng)眾們分享自己創(chuàng)業(yè)之初的艱辛。

????2011年，在斯坦福大學(xué)（Stanford University）演講時(shí)，他回憶說(shuō)：“我們是一家非常幸運(yùn)的公司。當(dāng)時(shí)我們生存下來(lái)的機(jī)會(huì)微乎其微。我沒(méi)有家庭背景，既不是富二代，也沒(méi)有靠山。”

????如今，阿里巴巴已經(jīng)成為電子商務(wù)領(lǐng)域的龐然大物，相當(dāng)于eBay、貝寶（PayPal）和亞馬遜（Amazon.com）的結(jié)合體。周二，阿里巴巴申請(qǐng)首次公開(kāi)募股，有望成為美國(guó)歷史上規(guī)模最大的IPO。馬云曾做過(guò)教師和英文翻譯，去年他卸任阿里巴巴首席執(zhí)行官，正如他所說(shuō)，這是為了給年輕人提供更大的舞臺(tái)，因?yàn)樗麄兏m合當(dāng)今的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)。但馬云依舊擔(dān)任著阿里巴巴董事局主席的職務(wù)，仍然是公司的戰(zhàn)略決策者和精神領(lǐng)袖，對(duì)這家公司有著長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)的影響。

????中國(guó)在線視頻網(wǎng)站優(yōu)酷網(wǎng)（Youku）的首席執(zhí)行官古永鏘說(shuō)：“很顯然，他是一位開(kāi)拓者和夢(mèng)想家。”最近，阿里巴巴向優(yōu)酷投資了12億美元。

????馬云與古永鏘的第一次見(jiàn)面是在15年前。那時(shí)候，阿里巴巴還沒(méi)有誕生，古永鏘希望聘用馬云。當(dāng)時(shí)，馬云只是說(shuō)了他設(shè)想的公司的名稱(chēng)，而沒(méi)有透露自己的商業(yè)計(jì)劃。古永鏘回憶起馬云是這樣說(shuō)的：“我不能告訴你我的商業(yè)計(jì)劃是什么——這是商業(yè)機(jī)密。”最近，在阿里巴巴入股優(yōu)酷的談判中，兩人再次握手。雖然馬云已經(jīng)不再負(fù)責(zé)阿里巴巴的日常管理，還把CEO的職務(wù)正式交給了接班人陸兆禧，但他依然在很大程度上參與了會(huì)談。

????古永鏘說(shuō)：“馬云雖然已經(jīng)卸任，但依然很忙。”

????在中國(guó)，馬云是可以與蘋(píng)果（Apple）聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人史蒂夫?喬布斯相提并論的名人。去年，幾萬(wàn)名客戶(hù)和員工聚集在一座足球場(chǎng)，傾聽(tīng)馬云卸任CEO的告別演講。當(dāng)時(shí)依舊是典型的馬云式高調(diào)風(fēng)格。他身穿華麗的銀色上衣和帽子出場(chǎng)，演講之前還唱了一首中國(guó)流行歌曲，觀眾們則以歡呼吶喊表示歡迎。

????1999年，互聯(lián)網(wǎng)在中國(guó)剛剛興起，馬云在17位朋友的幫助下，在自己的公寓里創(chuàng)辦了阿里巴巴。最初，阿里巴巴是一個(gè)中小型企業(yè)在線商品交易的平臺(tái)。后來(lái)，馬云又創(chuàng)辦了針對(duì)消費(fèi)者市場(chǎng)的姊妹網(wǎng)站淘寶網(wǎng)（Taobao）。

????雖然面臨eBay的激烈競(jìng)爭(zhēng)，但阿里巴巴網(wǎng)站還是迅速吸引了大批用戶(hù)。許多分析師認(rèn)為，阿里巴巴的崛起是因?yàn)榭砍跗诘拿赓M(fèi)政策吸引了用戶(hù)，同時(shí)又迎合了中國(guó)人的口味。

????市場(chǎng)分析公司S&P Capital IQ的分析師斯科特?凱斯勒這樣描述馬云：“他有長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)的眼光——這在當(dāng)今并不多見(jiàn)。他能堅(jiān)持自己的愿景，在應(yīng)該大膽出擊的時(shí)候表現(xiàn)果敢。”

????事實(shí)上，馬云并不回避斗爭(zhēng)。雖然馬云也有頑童的一面，但多年來(lái)，他也曾多次將矛頭對(duì)準(zhǔn)美國(guó)高管和美國(guó)公司。馬云曾多次聲稱(chēng)eBay在中國(guó)必將遭遇失敗，果然一語(yǔ)中的。他還經(jīng)常與阿里巴巴的大股東雅虎（Yahoo）發(fā)生爭(zhēng)執(zhí)，不過(guò)現(xiàn)在雙方已經(jīng)重歸于好。

????近幾年，在馬云的推動(dòng)下，阿里巴巴不斷向在線支付、銀行業(yè)和云存儲(chǔ)等領(lǐng)域擴(kuò)展。此外，他也積極在中國(guó)和美國(guó)（令許多人感到意外）進(jìn)行投資。去年，阿里巴巴向在線零售商快遞服務(wù)公司ShopRunner投資2億美元。上個(gè)月，美國(guó)拼車(chē)服務(wù)公司Lyft融資2.5億美元，阿里巴巴也參與了投資。

????凱斯勒認(rèn)為，馬云的計(jì)劃是使阿里巴巴走出中國(guó)。計(jì)算機(jī)制造商聯(lián)想（Lenovo）是為數(shù)不多真正打入西方市場(chǎng)的中國(guó)公司之一。

????凱斯勒說(shuō)：“他們把自己看成首批走向世界的中國(guó)公司。實(shí)際上，真正打入世界市場(chǎng)的中國(guó)公司并不多。”

????周二提交的IPO文件顯示，截至12月31日的九個(gè)月內(nèi)，阿里巴巴的收入為65億美元，利潤(rùn)為28億美元。其中絕大多數(shù)收入來(lái)自中國(guó)，約為47億美元。

????赴美上市是阿里巴巴全球野心的另一個(gè)標(biāo)志。其他中國(guó)公司，比如中國(guó)搜索引擎百度（Baidu），雖然也在美國(guó)上市，但更多是出于財(cái)務(wù)現(xiàn)實(shí)的考慮，而不是為了進(jìn)軍美國(guó)市場(chǎng)。

????Jack Ma, co-founder of Chinese online retailer Alibaba Group, likes to tell anyone listening that his company faced slim odds as a start-up.

????"We are a very lucky company," he recalled during a talk Stanford University in 2011. "There was no chance that we would survive. I don't have any background, rich father or strong uncles."

????Today, Alibaba is an e-commerce colossus that is roughly the equivalent of eBay (EBAY), PayPal and Amazon.com (AMZN) combined. On Tuesday, it filed for an initial public offering that could be the largest in U.S. history. Ma, a former school teacher and English translator, stepped down as Alibaba's chief executive last year to, as he put it, leave room for younger talent that is more in tune with today's Internet. However, as executive chairman, he still casts a long shadow over the company as its strategist and philosopher-in-chief.

????"He's clearly a pioneer and a visionary," said Victor Koo, chief executive of Youku, a Chinese online television site in which Alibaba recently led a $1.2 billion investment.

????The two men first met 15 years ago when Koo tried to recruit Ma for a job just before Alibaba's birth. At the time, Ma would only reveal the name of his brainchild but not its business plan. "I can't tell you what it is – it's a secret," Koo recalled Ma saying during their talk. They crossed paths yet again during the recent negotiations for Alibaba's stake in Youku. As usual, Ma was quite involved during meetings despite officially withdrawing from Alibaba's day-to-day management and leaving the CEO job to his lieutenant, Jonathan Lu.

????"It's a very engaged retirement," Koo said.

????In China, Ma is a celebrity in the mold of Apple (AAPL) co-founder Steve Jobs. Legions of customers and employees packed a soccer stadium last year to see his goodbye speech as CEO. In his typical bombastic style, Ma preceded the talk by belting out a Chinese pop song on stage while wearing a gaudy silver suit and hat. The crowd roared its approval.

????Ma, with the help of a group of 17 friends, started Alibaba out of his apartment in 1999 just as the Internet started to take hold in China. It began as a site for small and medium-sized businesses to buy and sell goods online. Later, he created a sister site, Taobao, that is focused on the consumer market.

????Despite intense competition from eBay, Alibaba's Web sites quickly gained users. Many analysts credit the company's rise to initially offering free listings to attract users and its appeal to Chinese tastes.

????"He's someone who thinks very long term - which is something that isn't very common these days," Scott Kessler, an analyst with S&P Capital IQ, said of Ma. "He was true to his vision and bold as appropriate."

????Indeed, Ma does not shy from tussles. Although impish, he has taken pot shots at a number of U.S. executives and their companies over the years. Ma repeatedly declared eBay's demise in China before it actually happened. He's also frequently feuded with Yahoo (YHOO), a big investor in Alibaba, although they've since patched up their differences.

????In recent years, Ma has pushed Alibaba beyond its roots into online payments, banking and cloud storage. He's also championed investments in China and, to the surprise of many, in the United States. Last year, Alibaba led a $200 million investment in ShopRunner, a delivery service for online retailers. Last month, Alibaba followed up by joining a group that invested $250 million in Lyft, the ride-sharing service.

????Ma's plan is expand Alibaba outside outside of China, Kessler said. Lenovo (LNVGY), the computer maker, is one of the few Chinese companies to have actually made inroads in the West.

????"They see themselves as one of the first Chinese companies to go global," Kessler said. "There really aren't a lot of examples."

????Alibaba had revenue of $6.5 billion and profit of $2.8 billion in the nine months ending Dec. 31., according to its IPO filing Tuesday. The vast majority of the revenue - $4.7 billion - originated from China.

????Filing for a U.S. IPO could very well be one more sign of Alibaba's global ambitions. Others Chinese companies like Baidu (BIDU), the Chinese search engine, have sold shares here, but it was more of because of financial realities than part of an effort to crack the U.S. market.