THE TAO OF ALIBABA

From a long-time Alibaba executive and friend of Jack Ma, THE TAO OF ALIBABA is the first book to articulate how Alibaba's unique culture and "tai chi" management principles are providing a business and economic development model for the rest of the world.

Brian A. Wong was the first American and only the 52nd employee to join Alibaba Group, where he worked alongside Jack Ma for 16 years. The deep relationships Wong has with Ma and other senior Alibaba leaders enable him to tell this story and capture the essence of the company's management success like no other author has to date. With blessings from Jack and other top executives, this book will uncover principles rarely revealed and explained.

Wong also built Alibaba's Global Leadership Academy (AGLA) and the international arm of the Alibaba Business School. He has spent years distilling how others can apply these lessons, and this book will be built into each of these efforts to continue book sales into the future. Wong also has more than 23,000 followers on LinkedIn, a very active speaking schedule, and he advises various governments on e-commerce strategies. He will leverage each of these to publicize the book.

If you took the economic might of Amazon, and added the penetration of Facebook, the ubiquity of Google, and the cultural significance of YouTube, you might have something starting to resemble Alibaba. Alibaba and its interlinked network of products and services have exploded into global markets, disrupting conventional businesses and creating previously unimaginable opportunities for millions of small businesses worldwide.

This book reveals the company's "secret sauce" - a consciously cultivated ethos and spirit that has enabled Alibaba to weather tough times (including its recent setbacks with the Chinese government) and persist toward a common mission. It is a blueprint of the company's management philosophy, crystalized into the most important elements that have driven its success, and providing a road map for incorporating these principles into any organization.

Wong distills his 20 years of experience inside the company to show readers how to align their organization's capabilities with performance-maximizing tools to achieve success. But most importantly, the Tao of Alibaba teaches the pursuit of greater purpose and meaning, steering entrepreneurs to view their ventures as a vehicle for profound and lasting impacts on their communities. These lessons serve as timeless tools for any entrepreneur seeking to configure their organization toward purpose and impact.


Brian A. Wong is a Chinese American entrepreneur and investor. He was the first American and only the 52nd employee to join Alibaba Group, where he worked alongside Jack Ma for 16 years. While there, he founded the Alibaba Global Initiatives (AGI) and was the founder and Executive Director of the Alibaba Global Leadership Academy. Wong remains an advisor to the AGI team and regularly teaches courses on China's digital economy and the Tao of Alibaba management principles. Wong is also Founder and Chairman of Shanghai-based RADII, a digital media company. Wong earned his bachelor's degree from Swarthmore College, a master's certificate from the Johns Hopkins University (SAIS)Nanjing University Center for U.S. and China Studies, and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. He is a China Aspen Fellow and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. He is based in Shanghai.