Jack Ma steps down as chairman of Alibaba

Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, is stepping down as chairman, handing over the reins to his handpicked successor.

Ma first resigned as Alibaba's chief executive officer in 2013 and was replaced by Jonathan Lu. In 2015, Daniel Zhang replaced Jonathan Lu.

Ma, who announced his retirement as chairman of the company last year, will celebrate his final day as he marks his 55th birthday at an Olympic-sized sports stadium in Hangzhou, where he founded the company 20 years ago.

The charismatic entrepreneur, one of China’s most recognisable public figures, will be replaced by the lower-profile Daniel Zhang, the company’s chief executive and an accountant by training.

In a video posted on Monday, Ma said: “I’m the person always looking forward. I don’t want to look at the things back.” Ma, a former English teacher, has previously said he will turn his attention to philanthropy, focusing on education in rural areas.

In an open letter announcing his resignation last year, Ma wrote: “I still have lots of dreams to pursue. Those who know me know that I do not like to sit idle. The world is big, and I am still young, so I want to try new things.”

Ma’s net worth is $38.4bn according to Forbes, making him China’s richest man. His company, which listed in the New York stock exchange in 2014 in the largest IPO to date, has a market capitalisation of $460bn.

Alibaba was founded by a group of 18 people led by Ma. The company functioned from Ma's apartment in Hangzhou, where Alibaba is now headquartered. China's e-commerce space is no more dominated by Alibaba. There are new players like Pinduoduo who are focussing on smaller centres in China.

Apart from e-commerce, Alibaba also manages digital payments, online banking, cloud computing and digital media and entertainment.