Mary Ma facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mary Ma
|
|||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||||||||||
| Born |
Ma Xuezheng
1952 or 1953 |
||||||||||
| Died | 31 August 2019 (aged 66) | ||||||||||
| Education | Capital Normal University, University of London |
||||||||||
| Occupation | Businesswoman, investor | ||||||||||
| Known for | Orchestrating Lenovo's acquisition of IBM's PC division | ||||||||||
| Title | CFO of Lenovo (2000-2007) | ||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 馬雪征 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 马雪征 | ||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
Mary Ma (also known as Ma Xuezheng) was a very important Chinese businesswoman and investor. She was born in 1952 or 1953 and passed away on August 31, 2019, at age 66.
Mary Ma was the chief financial officer (CFO) for Lenovo, a huge computer company. She played a key role in a big deal where Lenovo bought IBM's personal computer business in 2005. This deal made Lenovo much bigger! Because of her success, Forbes magazine named her one of the world's most powerful women in 2005. After leaving Lenovo in 2007, she started her own investment company called Boyu Capital. This company invested in other big businesses like Alibaba Group.
Early Life and Work
Mary Ma went to Capital Normal University in China. She graduated in 1976. Later, she studied in England at the University of London.
When she returned to China, she worked for the Chinese Academy of Sciences for 12 years. During this time, she even worked as an interpreter. This meant she helped important Chinese leaders, like Deng Xiaoping, communicate with others.
Growing Lenovo
In 1988, Mary Ma met Liu Chuanzhi. He was the founder of a computer company called Legend, which is now known as Lenovo. She was very impressed by his ideas for the company.
Two years later, in 1990, she left her government job. She joined Legend as an assistant manager for their Hong Kong office.
By 1997, Mary Ma had become a deputy general manager at Legend. She had a new idea: letting employees own parts of the company. This was a very new concept for a Chinese company at the time. Liu Chuanzhi liked her idea and made it even bigger. This employee ownership helped Legend stay strong during a tough time for tech companies around 2000. Because of her smart ideas, Mary Ma became the chief financial officer (CFO) of the company.
In 2005, Mary Ma led the huge deal for Lenovo to buy IBM's personal computer division. This included famous brands like ThinkPad. This deal cost about US$1.75 billion. It made Lenovo four times bigger almost overnight! It also turned Lenovo into one of the world's largest computer makers. In 2019, Lenovo became the world's biggest PC maker.
Mary Ma also helped Lenovo sponsor the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. This was a big moment because it was the first time a Chinese company had sponsored such a major global sports event.
Later Career and Boyu Capital
Mary Ma retired from Lenovo in 2007. However, she still stayed involved as a non-executive director. She then joined an investment company called TPG.
In 2011, she co-founded her own investment firm, Boyu Capital. This company raised nearly US$10 billion. Boyu Capital invested in many well-known companies and new businesses. Some of these included Alibaba Group, NetEase Music, and Megvii.
In March 2019, Mary Ma was appointed to the board of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing. This company runs the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. She also served on the boards of other large companies like Unilever.
Mary Ma passed away on August 31, 2019. She was 66 years old and died from pancreatic cancer.
