Changing of the guard at Alibaba. Jack Ma, founder and main shareholder of the Chinese e-commerce giant, he turns 10 on 54 September and retires, handing over the leadership of the group to David Zhang, chief executive officer, and Joe Tsai, executive vice president.
In the wake of Bill Gates, Ma wants to devote himself to philanthropy, focusing especially on his Foundation to support education in rural areas of China. However, he will remain on the board of directors of Alibaba.
“It's not the end of an era but the beginning of a new one for me,” said Ma, who founded Alibaba in 1999 at the age of 25 after graduating from Hangzhou Normal.
Among the aphorisms distilled in recent years by the Chinese billionaire, one in particular has left its mark: “I will retire still young, to enjoy life like Forrest Gump… I don't want to die in the office, better to die on the beach, under an umbrella".
His will no doubt be a golden retirement, considering he can count on a personal fortune of about 40 billion dollars.
Alibaba's dad admitted he has like model Bill Gates: “There are many things I can learn from the founder of Microsoft. I will never be as rich as him, but there is one thing I can do better than him: retire earlier”.
Indeed, Gates retired in 2014, aged 59, and today still has a net worth of $95 billion.
