Jack Ma, the co-founder of the ubiquitous Asian e-commerce website, Alibaba, and is considered as China's richest person, has announced on Friday his intention to retire from the aforementioned company to put the focus on philanthropy works.
In a statement given to The New York Times, the former English teacher said that he will be stepping down from the company he helped built from the ground up next year. He told the media outlet his reason for leaving in which it would be for him to pursue his philanthropic works on education.
Over the weekend, it was revealed over at the South China Morning Post that the 54-year-old already has a succession plan all laid out for the future of the internet retailer company. According to the Morning Post, Ma met with Alibaba's senior corporate officials to discuss the situation of the firm without him in the reins. Alongside with it, Ma reportedly prepared a system that would guide the next generation of leaders who will be taking over the multi-billion dollar web seller.
A press conference held on Sunday further clarified Ma's earlier statement with the NYTimes indicating the co-founder's retention of chairmanship within the company throughout the transition period before his final exit.
As specified over at CNET, the Chinese multi-billionaire will continue to work for Alibaba for the duration of one year, until Sept. 10 of 2019, before turning over the baton to current CEO Daniel Zhang.
Furthermore, the father of three will sit on Alibaba's board of directors until 2020.
Humble Beginnings
Alibaba, which is being referred to as the Amazon of China and Asia, was brought forth to the fore by Ma and 18 other people in 1999.
According to the earlier reports, Ma established the orange and white company at the time when there's virtually no internet in China. His business concept sounded strange at that time that even Chinese regulating bodies couldn't seem to wrap their heads around the web project.
Financing the Alibaba during its infancy stage was even more difficult as banks then still couldn't put a hand on where he's going with the project.
With America's eBay dominating the world's e-commerce sphere, the Harvard University reject pursued with his plans to make shopping more convenient for Chinese people and the world over.
Today, Alibaba, through its larger holding company, the Alibaba Group Holding Limited, operates in more than 200 countries and is now worth USD$420 billion.
Alibaba is primarily known as a place on the internet where anyone can buy almost everything under the sun. Through years of corporate evolution, the site now handles online banking, cloud computing, and digital payments. The company has lately even ventured on digital media and entertainment.
