A boy in rural China was unexpectedly sponsored with gifts and cash by benefactors because his face looks exactly like billionaire Jack Ma.
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| Fan Xiaoqin has been called "mini Jack Ma" since 2014 after photos of him looking exactly like the billionaire went viral on Chinese social media. On Singles' Day, November 11, which is also a popular annual online shopping day in China organized by Alibaba, the photos were reposted and continued to create a fever. |
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| According to Cri, Fan was born into a poor family in Jiangxi Province, eastern China. His mother is paralyzed and lost an eye after being gored by a buffalo. His 83-year-old grandmother has dementia. The sole breadwinner in the family is his 59-year-old father, who also lost a leg in an accident. |
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| Local media reported that after Fan went viral, many people flocked to the remote village where he lived to visit him. One villager said that "there have never been so many cars here before." Fan's family receives up to 50 visitors a day. |
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| Sometimes, the Fan brothers were late for school because of visitors. Some individuals and company representatives supported the Fan family with gifts and cash, even offering to sponsor his future education. One businessman gave the family 6,000 yuan (more than $870), an LCD TV, and some merchandise. However, many people also sought out Fan with the intention of profiting from his fame. Some businessmen even forced the boy to take pictures with them to promote their products. |
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| Mr. Fan Jiafa said that the family's life has changed a lot since his youngest son became famous. Every day, he receives many calls and messages from strangers. "I am very happy when people come to visit us. I do not have the ambition that someone is willing to sponsor my children. I just want them to have a good education. Only knowledge can change fate," he said. |
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| According to the father, they were usually given rice, milk, utensils and snacks, but some villagers exaggerated the gifts. Some even said he took advantage of his son and was given hundreds of thousands of yuan. In fact, the total amount of support the family received was about 7,000 to 8,000 yuan. |
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| According to villagers, other children did not like to play with the Fan brothers because they were dirty and quiet. The boys' teachers said their academic performance was not good. |
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| Xinhua reported mid-month that tech mogul Jack Ma would pay for his doppelganger’s college tuition, but an Alibaba spokesperson later denied the report. Ma, who was an English teacher and translator, was rejected by several employers before founding Alibaba in 1999. He is one of China’s richest men, with an estimated net worth of more than $30 billion. |
According to VNE
