Jack Ma to donate $14 million towards vaccine research for the novel coronavirus

The richest man in China and the co-founder of the e-commerce giant Alibaba, Jack Ma, has recently pledged  $14 million dollars in an effort to help development of a vaccine for the deadly new Chinese coronavirus. The donations were made through his charitable foundation called 'The Jack Ma Foundation'.

The donation will be split

According to reports, the donation will be split between two research organisations of the Chinese Government, each organisation will receive 5.8 million dollars and the rest of the money will go towards prevention and treatment of the deadly virus. Even with Ma's donation, experts predict that it will take up to a year for the vaccine to be developed and hit the market.

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The pharmaceutical giant, Johnson & Johnson has also started the quest for a vaccine and in a statement said that they were 'very confident' that they would be able to find a vaccine.

Who is Jack Ma?

Jack Ma is a Chinese business magnate, investor, politician, and philanthropist and also the co-founder of Alibaba. Ma is the former chairman of the Alibaba Group, a large multinational technology conglomerate. Ma has always been a great proponent of an open and market-driven economy according to sources. 

Reports claim that Ma has a net worth of $44.3 billion making him the richest man in China and one of the richest people in the world.

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(with inputs from agencies)