HONG KONG When the heads of three of China's most prominent companies join hands to launch a startup, investors notice.
Jack Ma Yun of Alibaba Group Holding, Tencent Holdings' Pony Ma Huateng, and Peter Ma Mingzhe of Ping An Insurance Group did just that when they founded ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance, China's first online-only insurer, four years ago. It was a company with an untested business model and one that had yet to make a single yuan from underwriting, but it sparked an investment frenzy.
