Co-founder and Chairman of the Alibaba Group, Jack Ma is retiring from Alibaba on his 55th birthday, which is on 10th September.
Subsequently, he will focus fulltime on his philanthropic activities, for which he initiated the Jack Ma Foundation in 2014. Ma has also, on numerous occasions, spoken about his love for education, which he plans to devote his time and resources to. The day that he chose to step down – 10th September – apart from being his birthday, is also Teacher’s Day in China.
“Before I’m 70 years old, I can do something in other fields, in areas like education,” Ma said at an Alibaba event last September.
Interestingly, the Jack Ma Foundation has pledged to invest $45 million over the next decade to locate and nurture teaching talent in the rural parts of China.
The transition was announced over a year back and the current CEO of the e-commerce behemoth, Daniel Zhang will step into Ma’s shoes. Ma had resigned as the CEO position in 2013.
Ma is one of the richest men in China and is consistently ranked as the most powerful people in the world. Also a philanthropist and an investor, Ma is considered worldwide as an icon and ambassador for Chinese businesses.
The astute businessman is an icon in the e-commerce field and his rise from an English teacher to one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world is nothing short of astounding. His success story is something that all entrepreneurs around the world aim to emulate.
It was two decades earlier in 1999 that Ma founded a business marketplace web page out of his apartment. Today, the business is a global empire that includes online retail and digital banking among many other sectors. It has a whopping 750 million active users today and over 65,000 employees! Further, Alibaba is one of the biggest internet companies and is often considered one of those with the highest brand value.
Alibaba History: 20 Years in 3 Minutes. From e-commerce to New Retail, a look back at two decades of major milestones for the company. pic.twitter.com/TlijjTBNPP
— Alibaba Group (@AlibabaGroup) September 10, 2019
We wish the entrepreneur spread his acumen over various other fields to make the world a better place to live in!
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