Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. co-founder Jack Ma has joined Twitter. In his first tweet, Jack Ma posted photos of a China Eastern Airlines plane with boxes of coronavirus test kits and face masks pending shipping to the U.S. from Shanghai.
“All the best to our friends in America,” he wrote; which garnered more than 3,500 retweets and 20,000 likes in the first hour after posting. He describes himself as a “teacher, philanthropist, entrepreneur” in his newly created profile, which topped 10,000 followers in an hour.
Twitter Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey retweeted Ma’s post, welcoming him to the platform. Ma is now the wealthiest person in Asia, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The Jack Ma Foundation and the Alibaba Foundation on Friday announced that they have prepared 500,000 coronavirus test kits and 1 million masks to send to the U.S.
Also, the foundation is adding to those they already donated to other countries affected by COVID-19; including Japan, South Korea, Italy, Iran, and Spain.
“Drawing from my own country’s experience, speedy and accurate testing; and adequate personal protective equipment for medical professionals are most effective in preventing the spread of the virus,” Ma said in the statement. The entrepreneur urged people to “eliminate boundaries to sources” and share “hard-earned lessons.”
Ma had previously announced on his Weibo account that he would donate 100 million yuan ($14.5 million) through his foundation. This is to support medical research efforts and disease prevention.