Narrator Jim Meskimen brings an unassuming charm and perfect timing to his performance of this engaging book about the Chinese ecommerce hub Alibaba. Alert to every nuance in the writing--he's a longtime associate of Jack Ma--Meskimen delivers this fast-moving narrative with appealing authority. Starting out as an English teacher in China, Jack Ma found the path to becoming a superstar entrepreneur in the days when the Internet was young and much of China's business took place in street markets. He overcame cultural, technical, and governmental obstacles to reel in the financial partners necessary to grow his Internet sales platform and ultimately defeat U.S. competitors. The story's texture and detail explain the personal and administrative challenges of this entrepreneur's journey, and provide a colorful overview of how China has become an economic juggernaut.
Pub Date: April 12, 2016
Duration: 9 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9780062456953
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
The readers can't compensate for the unbearably pompous prose style of this extended parable about corporate politics and strategy.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
An engaging experience.
This audiobook deals with everything from the historic investments that led to world-dominating companies, such as the Chinese technology company Tencent, to predicting the products and services of the future. An audiobook of such complexity requires a narrator who can handle the task, and David Thorpe manages it admirably. Thorpe uses his masterly voice, which sits somewhere between that of a BBC World Service presenter and an easy, relaxed Home Counties accent, to guide listeners through a sea of numbers, acronyms, and terms such as YP, RPS, and market cap. Rather than simply reading, Thorpe presents the work with excitement and enthusiasm, and this enjoyment transfers to the listener.
An engaging experience.Pub Date: Feb. 20, 2026
Duration: 13 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781668103425
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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