Jack Ma, Founder & Chairman of Alibaba and one of the most inspirational figures of the 21st century turned 55 on 10.9.2019 and has announced that he is stepping down from the chairmanship.
Ma has handpicked his successor – Daniel Zhang, the Chief Executive of Alibaba. He is stepping down on his birthday which is also China’s Teacher’s Day. Ma who founded Alibaba in 1999 with a group of friends in a small shared apartment, faced several hurdles to take the company to higher levels.
Alibaba is the first to bring e-commerce revolution in China and has diversified business operations that have turned highly successful, making Ma the richest man in China. Ma, who has had brutal defeats in his pursuit of studies and career, did not let it take away his destiny. He erased his failures with focus and persistence. Now his personal fortune is around 38.4 Billion USD. The 55 year old visionary holds 6.22% of Alibaba’s shares and his fortune will still be on the rise. He previously mentioned that once done helming the company, he would turn towards philanthropy and focus towards bringing education to the people in rural areas.
He mentioned that he will step down earlier and in a letter wrote “The World is big and I a still young, So I want to try new things”.