Steering a course for sustained growth

Customers first, IPO investors third in Alibaba chief's priorities

China's richest man wants investors in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd to know where they stand in its initial public offering - and that may not be where they imagine.

"Customers first, employees second, and shareholders third," Chairman Jack Ma wrote in a letter in Alibaba's IPO filing last week valuing the company as high as $162.7 billion. "I can see that investors who hear this for the first time may find it a bit hard to understand."