Michael Evans (rower)
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John Michael Evans (born August 16, 1957) is a Canadian technology executive and the President of Alibaba Group. He previously spent 20 years working for U.S. investment bank
Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...
and is a former Olympic rower.


Early life, family and education

Evans was born to Dr. John Robert Evans and his wife Jean on August 16, 1957. Besides his twin brother Mark, he has four other siblings: Derek, Gillian (Gill), Timothy (Tim), and Willa. He attended Upper Canada College in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
and received his bachelor's degree from
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
. He later studied at University College, Oxford where he stroked the Oxford boat in the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race. Alongside his twin brother Mark, Evans went on to join the Canadian Olympic team, where he won a gold medal in rowing at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles.


Career

In 2015, Evans was appointed President of Alibaba Group, where he leads Alibaba Group’s international growth strategy outside of China and reports to CEO Daniel Zhang. Evans has served on the board of Alibaba Group since its September 2014 IPO, and has known Alibaba Group founder
Jack Ma Ma Yun (; born 10 September 1964), or more commonly referred as Jack Ma, is a Chinese businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder of the Jack Ma Foundation, and co-founder of Alibaba Group and Yunfeng Capital. As of May 2025, Ma's ne ...
since 1999 when Ma first approached Goldman Sachs regarding an early investment in the company. Evans was named as one of the National Retail Federation’s Power Players in 2019 for his work at Alibaba Group. In addition, Evans is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Barrick Gold Corporation and several not-for-profit organizations. He is also a trustee of the Asia Society and a member of the Advisory Council for the Bendheim Center for Finance at Princeton University. Before Alibaba Group, Evans was vice chairman of
Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...
, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asia and spent 19 years as a Partner after joining the firm in 1993. In the high-profile IPO, Goldman was one of six lead underwriters with Mark Schwartz, chairman of Goldman Asia Pacific, named as lead banker for Goldman in a lead-up New York ''Times'' report. In 2019 Evans was charged for his involvement in the 1MDB scandal, which took place during his time at Goldman Sachs, which was settled.


Philanthropy

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Evans was personally involved in several philanthropic efforts to donate personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers in New York. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo acknowledged in a press briefing that Alibaba Group’s and Evans’ assistance had been “very helpful to us.”


See also

*
List of Princeton University Olympians This is a list of Princeton University alumni who competed in the Olympic Games. In this list, the term athletics refers to track and field. Summer Olympians # Robert Garrett, class of 1897, men's athletics, 1896 Athens Olympics, 1900 Paris O ...
* Mark Evans


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, J. Michael 1957 births Living people Alibaba Group people Alumni of University College, Oxford Canadian bankers Canadian male rowers Canadian people of Welsh descent Goldman Sachs people Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Canada Olympic medalists in rowing Olympic rowers for Canada Oxford University Boat Club rowers Princeton University alumni Rowers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Rowers from Toronto Canadian twins Canadian expatriates in China 20th-century Canadian sportsmen