Bill Clinton, Jack Ma and the new Mantra - Sustainability
StreetTalk
Clinton’s Cure For Capitalism
Robert Lenzner, FORBES.com 09.25.09
The former president supports entrepreneurs who put customers and employees before shareholders. He has lots of company.
” The Clinton Global Initiative is not a philanthropic organization. It does not give money away, but instead creates a marketplace where people with ideas can connect with resources if they are adamant, tireless and make a commitment. Some major companies are using the CGI platform to disclose their good deeds that may or may not pay off in profits.
[ Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba.com and Philip McMaster, founder of the “Peace Plus One” - World Sustainability Project (www.SustainabilitySymbol.com)]
Clinton agreed with Jack Ma, founder and CEO of the Alibaba Group, a Chinese Internet venture, who told his shareholders recently that “customers and employees should come first.”
“The largest banks are all about greed,” says Ma, a thin, almost emaciated man. “That is why they’re ruined.” If shareholders don’t like Ma’s message, he tells them to sell the stock. In Ma’s case this is most unusual since Ma himself and Yahoo, the U.S. Internet company, are major shareholders in Alibaba. Ma insists that Yahoo has not complained about his priorities. Yahoo’s $1 billion investment in Alibaba in 2005 is now worth $3.25 billion.’
Alibaba strives to operate in that zone that Clinton calls “double-bottom line capitalism.” It serves social progress as well as creates profits. It’s the new mantra.
Leave a Reply