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Alibaba's Jack Ma, China's Richest Man, To Retire From Company He Co-Founded (nytimes.com)
According to The New York Times, Alibaba's co-founder and executive chairman, Jack Ma, is stepping down from the Chinese e-commerce giant on Monday (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source) to pursue philanthropy in education. From the report: A former English teacher, Mr. Ma started Alibaba in 1999 and built it into one of the world's most consequential e-commerce and digital payments companies, transforming how Chinese people shop and pay for things. That fueled his net worth to more than $40 billion, making him China's richest man. He is revered by many Chinese, some of whom have put his portrait in their homes to worship in the same way that they worship the God of Wealth.
In an interview, Mr. Ma said his retirement is not the end of an era but "the beginning of an era." He said he would be spending more of his time and fortune focused on education. "I love education," he said. Mr. Ma will remain on Alibaba's board of directors and continue to mentor the company's management. Mr. Ma turns 54 on Monday, which is also a holiday in China known as Teacher's Day. The retirement makes Mr. Ma one of the first founders among a generation of prominent Chinese internet entrepreneurs to step down from their companies.
In an interview, Mr. Ma said his retirement is not the end of an era but "the beginning of an era." He said he would be spending more of his time and fortune focused on education. "I love education," he said. Mr. Ma will remain on Alibaba's board of directors and continue to mentor the company's management. Mr. Ma turns 54 on Monday, which is also a holiday in China known as Teacher's Day. The retirement makes Mr. Ma one of the first founders among a generation of prominent Chinese internet entrepreneurs to step down from their companies.
Like all Chinese billionaires
How many people are capable of retiring like Xinshng Ma, at the top of his game, at 54 without injury, disease, or corporate coup?
Like our vaunted sports heroes, too many corporate demigods stay too long; stagnating, afraid to leave the comforts of the present to move on to the next adventure.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
He should just give it all to the poor.
clearancejobs.com
Thats how I got my $50,000 job in IT in Silicon Valley.
...I had multiple irritating problems. Most of the issues got resolved.. but it became obvious to me that even at the savings I was getting the amount of hassle I was getting was just not worth it.
Same thing can be said about TRUMP.
/sigh
We REALLY need to get that man out of the whitehouse.
It's one thing when a founder dies or gets kicked out, but when a founder voluntarily quits his own company, you know it's gonna go sideways at best.
Pls bobs !
I am TRUMP!
Is this really necessary on every article? Put the free link first.
That's the equivalent of pulling down a cool $185 a week in West Virginia...
Champagne wishes and caviar dreams
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
Agreed, he's going to die in PRISON of old age after being convicted of TREASON. SMALL HANDS is going to be his nickname in CLUB FED.
HRC 2020.
There is no "God of Weath". You may be confused about "fat, laughing Buddha" who is often depicted with plenty of money but that's just because he's associated with success and happiness.
If youâ(TM)re qualified for one, you donâ(TM)t need a job board.
Ma was lucky to get in on the leading edge of a major new industry (electronic retail), just like the other ultra-rich (oil, computer software, internet services.) How many more of these 'major new industries' will be created in the future, before we've turned over every major technological stone which can be uncovered? Eventually we're going to reach a point where we've discovered every major field that will exist, and there will be no hidden wellspring of techno-economic growth just over the horizon; the scary thing is that we will never realize it, it will ALWAYS be believed to be 'just over the horizon'. We have to plan for such a future, no matter how many people insist there will be another 'just over the horizon', otherwise we'll have no path forward if there's ever a drought of new tech.
Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
With the possibility of lots of tarrifs hitting China by the US in the next few months Alibaba and others like them are going to be seeing several bad quarters or more. Perfect time to step down while your track record isn't tarnished.
He cost me one of the best jobs I ever had. I hoped to join Yahoo as FTE, but due to bad decisions by the Yahoo C titles and his fraudulent maneuvers they cut the contract to hire folks when Yahoo failed to buy that same payment processing company that made him the wealthy man he is today.
Honestly, business is business, and Yahoo was out maneuvered in the end. Still it soured me a bit on doing business with China due to their rules. They condemn Chump for "America first" but the truth is that EVERY country puts their country first, and in the case of Jack he put himself and his family first. In the end, I can't condemn him for it. Still... it cost me an awesome job, and IMHO Yahoo never really recovered despite their stock price then and now.
He's following the example of Steve Wozniak of Apple fame who left Apple and became a school teacher.
Headline: Jack Ma Off.
This isn't really that big of a deal since he's stepping down as Executive Chairman. He already stepped down as CEO in 2013.
The CEO is more important than the Executive Chairman since the CEO plays an active day-to-day role in the company's operations.
Ma wasn't really involved in the company's operations while as chairman.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/alibabas-jack-ma-to-step-down-as-executive-chairman-1536381356
Mr. Ma started a leadership transition five years ago, when he stepped down as chief executive. Alibaba’s chief executive is Daniel Zhang and the executive vice chairman is Joe Tsai.
Since stepping down, the charismatic technology billionaire has spent much of his time at Alibaba’s Hangzhou campus receiving visiting dignitaries or traveling the world to speak out on causes he believes in.
The richest man in a communist country should not be any richer than the poorest. China is as much a communist county as they are a Martian one.
He was still good to go, but there was political pressure. CCP having been on a full court press against their domestic tech industry leaders recently, he simply held out the longest.