Billionaire Investor Says Chinese People Work Harder And Western Companies Could Face Deep Trouble After Alibaba IPO

EUGENE KIM

 SEP. 18, 2014

Noah Berger/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Sequoia Capital chairman Michael Moritz

Michael Moritz, the chairman of VC firm Sequoia Capital, is a huge fan of Chinese internet companies and reiterated his enthusiasm for the Chinese market in an interview with The Wall Street Journal Wednesday.

The billionaire investor described the Alibaba IPO as a “major landmark event” that is as significant as the Google IPO, and said Chinese internet companies will create “one global battlefield” with western companies over the next decade.

He warned that a lot of US and European companies are still denying the significance of Chinese internet companies, and that the Alibaba IPO will only make more people aware of the booming Chinese tech industry.

Moritz also stressed how the work ethic of Chinese people is contributing to Alibaba’s massive growth. When you combine that with the talent they have, he said, it becomes a “formidable combination.”

“Alibaba is also valuable because of the drive of its leaders and the indefatigable work ethic of the company — people just work a lot harder in China than they do anywhere else,” he said.

While Alibaba’s IPO is indeed considered a historical event, it is worth noting that Sequoia is an early investor and shareholder of Alibaba. Sequoia is also one of the most active US VC firms in China, having opened its first China fund in 2005, according to the WSJ. 

Alibaba is expected to raise over $20 billion when it goes public this Friday.

Click here to read the rest of the interview with Moritz >>