Inside Alibaba, where co-founders are revered like rock stars, relatively few employees know about the soft-spoken executive who for years kept his same cramped office, unfashionable clothes and the self-effacing demeanor of a metalworker's son.
But for investors in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's potentially record initial public offering, Simon Xie, a co-founder and vice president, represents one of the e-commerce company's most important figures: he's the only individual besides executive chairman Jack Ma who owns the domestic Chinese companies and holds the operating licenses that underpin Alibaba's corporate structure.