The Alibaba programmer Jack Ma asked to build Taobao, now a partner and a yuan billionaire – who is China’s Cai Jingxian?
The Chinese programming prodigy was part of the 3-man team that developed the mainland’s leading internet marketplace – now Cai works for an Alibaba subsidiary that is the country’s biggest cloud computing company, and has a cool US$380 million in the bank
Affectionately nicknamed Doron, after a naively passionate and kind character featured in acclaimed writer Jin Yong’s martial arts novels, Cai Jingxian is reputed to be one of the top programming legends at Alibaba – the Chinese e-commerce giant and owner of the South China Morning Post.
As a student at Zhejiang Cangnan Middle School, in Wenzhou, southern Zhejiang province, Cai struggled with languages but aced his maths and science classes. His teachers regarded him as a shy student, who nevertheless approached them brimming with questions. Cai was later accepted into Hangzhou Normal University, where he furthered his interest in mathematics.