n 1994, Ma heard about the Internet. In the early of 1995, he went to the United States occasionally, and with his friend's help he got introduced to the Internet. In April 1995, Ma, his wife and a friend collected twenty thousand dollars and started an Internet company. Their company was dedicated to creating website for companies. He named their company "China Yellow Pages." Within three years, his company had made ¥5,000,000 Chinese Yuan which was equivalent to $800,000 US dollars at the time