Alibaba Group Holding Ltd & Jack Ma's 'Unconventional View' On Shareholders

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA founder Jack Ma was on 60 Minutes Sunday night, talking about everything from business strategy to his humble beginnings in China.

The most notable segment of the interview, though, concerned Ma's "unconventional view" of Alibaba shareholders.

"If you want to invest in us, we believe customer No. 1, employee No. 2, shareholder No. 3. If they don't want to buy that, that's fine. If they regret, they can sell us," Ma told the outlet.

This runs contrary to modern Western business philosophy, where, as host Lara Logan put it, "the shareholder is usually first."

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Ma revealed a bit more about his thoughts on the topic (emphasis given by author): "I think they [those who view shareholders No. 1] were wrong. The shareholder, good. I respect them. But they're the third. Because you've take care of the customer, take care of the employees... shareholder taken care of."

This isn't the first time Ma has spoken about his shareholders. On September 19, the Alibaba founder shared his thoughts with CNBC heading into the company's IPO.

"I'm very honored and so excited, because when you see these shareholders, it's a responsibility," he said at the time.

Disclosure: At the time of this writing, the author had no position in the equities mentioned in this report.