Jack's [Ma Yun ] theory is that whoever controls data controls the world.

I'd met Simon [Segars] for the first time in London. He struck me as a quiet, natural-born engineer and an orthodox successor [to East]. He has a home in Silicon Valley, and he said it's just a few minutes' drive away from mine.

I thought I might spend the rest of my time on golf. But thinking about it now, I'm happy playing whenever I have some downtime in my busy schedule, and even if I had all the time I wanted to play, my score probably wouldn't be very good.

I would say that hardware is the bone of the head, the skull. The semiconductor is the brain within the head. The software is the wisdom and data is the knowledge.

I'm a man, and I think every man wants to be No. 1.

[Simon Segars ] came by a few times.I told him, "If you understand the future of the internet of things that much, then you should add more engineers and go on the offensive." Simon had explained to analysts and others that he intended to do that sort of forward-looking investment, but he said it's tough for a listed company considering its share price falls if profits drop.

But a big paradigm shift is staring us in the face. If I left things to someone else despite having my own thoughts on it, I wouldn't be true to myself.