Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma has resigned from his position as part the board of directors of Japans' SoftBank Group Corp. Ma will officially be removed from his post during SoftBank's upcoming 40th annual general meeting on June 25.
Ma's resignation comes just nine months after he had stepped down from his position as the executive chairman of the company he had founded. His resignation from Alibaba Group and SoftBank's board marks his latest efforts to cut his business ties to focus more on his philanthropic pursuits, a similar goal shared by his fellow billionaire Bill Gates.
In a statement released by SoftBank on Monday, ahead of its latest earnings report, Ma will be the only person on the 11-man board that will be replaced. The 10 other members are expected to be re-elected during the annual general meeting. Ma's departure will mark the end of his 13-year stint as one of SoftBank's board members.
SoftBank stated that it will be expanding its board of directors to 13 members. The three members that will be added, which is still subject for approval, are Softbank CFO Yoshimitsu Goto, Cadence Design Systems CEO Tan Lip-bu, and Waseda Business School professor Yuko Kawamoto.
Ma was originally appointed as part of the board of directors after SoftBank had acquired a stake in Alibaba. To this day, SoftBank remains to be one of Alibaba's largest shareholders. The company's bet on Alibaba is also still one of SoftBank founder and chief executive Masayoshi Son's most successful tech-related investments to date.
Ma retired as the chairman of Alibaba back in September of last year, during the company's 20th anniversary. During that time, he stated that he still felt young and that there are still a lot of places he wants to visit and challenges he wants to conquer. Ma added that his departure from the company is a new chapter in his life, one that he is looking forward to living.
Instead of focusing on managing the e-commerce and online empire he had created, Ma has chosen to become involved in various philanthropic pursuits. Using his vast resources, Ma has helped establish different charitable projects that focuses on issues such as women's rights, environmental protection, and education.
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Ma has used his finances and connections to aid in the global fight to contain the spread of the disease. Through his company, Ma has donated billions of dollars worth of medical supplies, such as test kits and face masks, to more than 150 countries.
