Manny Pacquiao meets Jack Ma

Photo: Manny Pacquiao/IG
Photo: Manny Pacquiao/IG

Manny Pacquiao meets all kinds of well-known people as both a world-famous athlete and an infamous politician. And the latest person he got to rub elbows with was Alibaba co-founder and executive chairman Jack Ma during a meeting in Hong Kong.

Pacman shared photos with Ma on Instagram yesterday. One photo shows the two smiling, another has them posing with boxing fists, while a third is a photo of them with Pacquiao’s wife.

 

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It was a pleasure meeting with Jack Ma, the co-founder and executive chairman of Alibaba.

A post shared by Manny Pacquiao (@mannypacquiao) on

Fans loved that the Filipino boxing champ and the Chinese business tycoon were in the same room together.

Instagram user @tan_dabooh said that they’re both successful Asians.

Photo: Manny Pacquiao/IG
Photo: Manny Pacquiao/IG

@jerriemae said: “This is sooo cool.”

Photo: Manny Pacquiao/IG
Photo: Manny Pacquiao/IG

Another user by the handle @marivicreyes7967 wrote that the two are his idols.

Photo: Manny Pacquiao/IG
Photo: Manny Pacquiao/IG

Like Pacquiao — who worked odd jobs before becoming a famous boxer — Ma is also an icon in his native China because of his rags-to-riches story.

At one point, Ma was an English teacher who reportedly only earned US$12 a month; today, he has a net worth estimated at $36.3billion, according to Forbes.

But the two are also alike in not so great ways as both men have come under fire for their problematic political views.

Pacquiao is very close to the controversial Duterte administration and Ma is said to be problematically close to the Chinese government as well.

Bloomberg confirmed in November that Ma is, in fact, a member of the Communist Party of China (CPC) — a shocking but not at all surprising revelation.

READ: Mainland Follies: Jack Ma proves that with a little money and hard work, anyone can be a kung fu hero

He once said that he would create a million jobs in the United States, without specifying exactly how, but broke that promise after the U.S.’ escalating trade tensions with China.

He said in September 2018: “This commitment is based on friendly China-U.S. cooperation and the rational and objective premise of bilateral trade. The current situation has already destroyed the original premise. There is no way to deliver the promise.”

The two also have equally odd side projects.

Like Pacquiao, who has starred in movies (once as a superhero) and recorded studio albums, Ma has also done some pretty off brand stuff. In 2017, the tycoon starred in a 20-minute kung fu film produced by Jet Li and directed by Chinese actor Wen Zhang. In it, Ma punches a hole through a basketball. No joke.

Guess they’ll get along just fine.



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