Co-founder of online shopping giant, Alibaba, Jack Ma, has decided to invest $23 million of his own money in a huge chunk of land in the US Adirondack mountains, known as the Brandon Reserve. His long term plan: to retire to the region. His short term plan: stop the logging operations and preserve the country.
Chinese billionaire Jack Ma has just spent a cool $23 million to buy 28,100 acres of land in the Adirondack mountains, hoping to protect it for future generations.
A spokesman for Mr. Ma told the Wall Street Journal: “This international land purchase reflects Jack’s belief that we all inhabit the same planet and we all breathe the same air, so we are dependent on each other for our collective future.”
Mr. Ma, co-founder of e-commerce site Alibaba, says he plans to spend some time in the reserve in Upstate New York, but the primary reason he decided to purchase the land was to ensure its conservation.
Mr. Ma’s land is located approximately 30 miles northwest of Lake Placid. It boasts woodland, a trout fishery, nine miles of the St. Regis River, two homes, and a barn. He hopes that his purchase will protect this stunning natural treasure from water depletion and destruction by the paper, timber and mining industries. Mr. Ma, who is known for his conservation efforts at home in China, says his first action as the official owner will be to put an end to a current logging operation there.
