When you think about Jack Ma, painter probably isn’t the word that comes to mind first. But the billionaire investor and Alibaba chairman does occasionally dabble in the arts. In 2013, he made a painting and auctioned it through Taobao. Now he’s auctioning another one.
Yes, the image above is Jack Ma’s second publically-available painting, titled Paradise. How much is it worth? The painting will be auctioned at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong today, and it’s expected to bring in between HK$1.5 million and HK$2.5 million (US$192,000 to US$322,000).
Jack Ma’s first painting, which he auctioned back in 2013.
If that value sounds crazy, it isn’t. Ma’s first painting (right), auctioned through Taobao in 2013, went for nearly US$400,000. Whether his newer painting looks better or worse is a matter of personal opinion, but Jack Ma’s fame has only grown in the intervening years, which might mean the newer painting goes for even more.
Of course, this isn’t just about owning a piece of art created by Jack Ma. It’s also a way of giving to charity. Ma himself obviously doesn’t need the money, and the proceeds from this second painting will be donated to the Paradise International Foundation, an environmental protection NGO. The proceeds from Ma’s first painting were also donated, in that case to a charity project being undertaken by the China Red Cross and Taobao.
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