In July the two firms made peace, but not before Mr Ma suggested publicly that Yahoo!
But Mr Ma will be keen to distance himself from any more cabinet embarrassments.
That would hardly be in keeping with the clean-guy image of Mr Ma, a Harvard-trained lawyer.
But, at the least, Mr Ma managed to halt the slide in his popularity.
Mr Ma said that overlapping of duties within various ministries had often led to officials passing the buck.
BBC: Travellers at the Beijing West Railway Station, Jan 2013
When China's trade ministry asked Mr Ma to set up ChinaMarket, 4, 500 companies joined before he ran a single advertisement.
But Mr Ma believes most people could afford water at a realistic price, and they would use it more efficiently.
Mr Ma has also created a college for entrepreneurs.
ECONOMIST: India and China are creating millions of entrepreneurs
They went through the piece again, and when Mr. Ma came to the impossible chord, Mr. Adolphe yelled "Stop!"
Between bites of scrambled eggs and potatoes, Mr. Ma compared the possible IPO to a wedding.
"There might be some cracks, but they are seldom totally damaged, " Mr. Ma said.
When Mr. Ma plays today, he still strives for that state of the beginner.
Mr. Ma, who is a reporter, says he had dated both Asian and white women.
Mr. Ma, you've mentioned that Alibaba when it first started was this business to business idea.
Mr. MA: I first met him in 1976, so I've known him for about 31 years.
On his trip to California last week, Mr. Ma traveled to Stanford University in search of talent.
Mr. Ma spent more than four years knocking on doors on Wall Street and in Washington, D.
Though Mr. Ma has high hopes for China, he sees Silicon Valley as the center of global innovation.
Mr. Ma is open to the idea that both sides have a lot to learn about each other.
Before Mr. Adolphe could correct the music, however, Mr. Ma decided to rehearse the composition in his dorm room.
Mr. Ma hopes it will solidify trade ties with other countries as well.
At (Le) Poisson Rouge, Lil Buck and Mr. Ma re-created their YouTube collaboration.
Mr. Ma would you consider yourself a pretty independent boy as a child?
Mr. MA: I think one of the great things about being a musician is that you never stop learning.
Mr. Adolphe told Mr. Ma what the professor had said and asked how he had managed to play the impossible chord.
While the "three no's" have eased tensions significantly, Mr. Ma still grapples with the question of where the relationship is going long-term.
With President Obama in the White House, does Mr. Ma ever worry about the U.S. commitment to security in the Asia-Pacific region?
"One needs to constantly remind oneself to play with the abandon of the child who is just learning the cello, " Mr. Ma says.
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