Jack Ma, Alibaba's executive chairman and co-founder, would step down on his 54th birthday to pursue his passion in education, the New York Times reported.
However, Ma will continue to serve the company as member of the board of directors. Known in the company as “Teacher Ma”, he will serve as mentor to the management.
Ma, who founded Alibaba along with 18 others, has assets worth $36.6 billion and is the third-richest person in China, according to Forbes' billionaire list of 2017.
The China's biggest e-commerce giant has more than 66,000 full-time employees and a market value of about $420 billion as of Friday's close. The charismatic leader called his retirement as “the beginning of an era.”
Ma came from a poor family which survived on his father's meagre pension of just USD 40.
After his graduation from the Hangzhou Teachers College with a major in English-language education, he worked as a teacher in the government.
Starting Alibaba in 1999 was the turning point in his life. His initial attempts to raise funds from Silicon Valley met with failures.
Alibaba group is involved in several businesses including e-commerce, online payment, entertainment banking and cloud computing.
His rags-to-riches story has influenced a generation of young Chinese entrepreneurs. As a devotee of tai chi, he has inspired strong devotion among his employees and users with his business strategy and corporate culture based on Chinese martial arts.
