Taobao's first programmer, 'Sweeping Monk,' retires. He is hailed as 'one man worth a team' and is worth billions.

Former Alibaba Group partner Cai Jingxian, Taobao's first programmer, recently ended his 25-year career at Alibaba. In 2017, he entered the Hurun Rich List with a fortune of 2.6 billion yuan, and it is believed that his current net worth is at least several billion yuan.

With a net worth of 2.6 billion yuan, he made it onto the Hurun Rich List.

At 49 years old, Cai Jingxian joined Alibaba in August 2000 and was one of the co-founders of Taobao. As a core engineer in Taobao's initial development team, he led the construction of Taobao's transaction and forum systems. Known for his focused and efficient work style, he was internally dubbed ‘Code God,’ ‘Technical Master,’ ‘Sweeping Monk,’ and ‘Duolong.’ Colleagues also circulated the saying, ‘When in trouble, find Duolong (Cai Jingxian's nickname),’ describing his ability to ‘handle the workload of an entire team.’

According to reports, Cai Jingxian has already resigned, and his status on Alibaba's internal and external platforms shows that he has ‘retired from the industry.’ However, Alibaba has not yet responded to this report.

Cai Jingxian is not good at socialising and does not use social media, so it is rare to see him in public. In 2014, Cai Jingxian was promoted to Alibaba partner. In 2017, he made it onto the Hurun Rich List with a fortune of 2.6 billion yuan (approximately 2.83 billion Hong Kong dollars). In July 2023, Alibaba's annual report showed that he was no longer a partner of the group.

Cai Jingxian once stated in an internal Alibaba document: ‘At Alibaba, we have always maintained a pure love for programming and a focus on and dedication to technology. Others treat work as work, while others treat work as a career. This is my world of programming, and I share it with you.’