Jack Ma, chairman of retail behemoth Alibaba, will step down next week on his 55th birthday.
The former English teacher has, however, planned to invest his vast fortune of US $ 41 billion towards initiatives regarding education – thereby following the footsteps of Microsoft CEO and philanthropist, Bill Gates.
Being known for his playful image and quirky antics for motivating his employees, Ma has been able to leave behind a legacy that will break the pattern of wobbling share prices and overall downturn of big tech companies when their charismatic leaders take their leave.
He had already announced the transition of the company to the likes of CEO Daniel Zhang, and co-founder and executive vice chairman Joseph Tsai, a year ago.
He succeeded at providing his company with the best leaders for the transition, a move that even Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Jerry Yang failed at. The company’s operational reins have, for a couple of years, now been in the hands of a respected team of executives who have kept it on e-commerce’s cutting edge.
With monthly active users of more than 750 million, Alibaba has helped tap into China’s massive consumer power, coincidentally a key objective of the Government today as its seeks to fuel domestic demand to lessen the reliance on foreign trade.
Its Taobao and Tmall platforms have helped countless businesses grow.
