Alibaba Co-founder Jack Ma is Planning Exit from the Company
Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma, China's richest person and the most instrumental builder of one of the country's most successful businesses, is planning to step away from the company, and plans to unveil a succession plan next week, according to the South China Morning Post (via TechCrunch).
In an interview with the Morning Post, Ma says that he met with the company's senior officials a decade ago, and "asked what Alibaba would do without me," putting into place a system that would prepare the next generation of leaders for the company.
An Alibaba spokesman said that the Times story was taken "out of context and [was] factually wrong," noting that Ma will remain as the company's executive chairman, and will "provide transition plans over a significant period of time."
Ma, who is 53 years old, started Alibaba in 1999 and helped grow it into a $420 billion business that has been instrumental in shaping how Chinese citizens purchase and pay for online goods.
Though Ma is one of the first of his generation of Chinese billionaire businessmen to step down and is doing so at a young age, he is widely revered in China, known as "Teacher Ma," and his philanthropic arm, the Jack Ma Foundation, is focused on fostering education for members of rural China.
In an interview with the Morning Post, Ma says that he met with the company's senior officials a decade ago, and "asked what Alibaba would do without me," putting into place a system that would prepare the next generation of leaders for the company.
An Alibaba spokesman said that the Times story was taken "out of context and [was] factually wrong," noting that Ma will remain as the company's executive chairman, and will "provide transition plans over a significant period of time."
Ma, who is 53 years old, started Alibaba in 1999 and helped grow it into a $420 billion business that has been instrumental in shaping how Chinese citizens purchase and pay for online goods.
Though Ma is one of the first of his generation of Chinese billionaire businessmen to step down and is doing so at a young age, he is widely revered in China, known as "Teacher Ma," and his philanthropic arm, the Jack Ma Foundation, is focused on fostering education for members of rural China.
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