This archive report was first published on 10 September 2019.
Jack Ma Steps Down as Alibaba Chairman ¶
On September 10, 2019, Jack Ma stepped down as chairman of Alibaba, marking the end of a spectacularly successful 20-year run.
Ma, who turned 55 on the same day, handed the reins of the company he co-founded to a team of executives led by CEO Daniel Zhang.
Ma's departure marks a new era for Alibaba, a company that tapped into China's deep reservoir of consumer spending, creating new opportunities for countless businesses large and small.
Ma's influence as a symbol of Chinese entrepreneurship is unparalleled, according to Duncan Clark, author of "Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built."
Ma was a cash-strapped entrepreneur when someone showed him the internet on a 1990s trip to the United States. He launched various internet-related business projects in China that met mixed success before convincing a group of Chinese and foreign friends to give him $60,000 to start a business-to-business e-commerce venture called Alibaba in 1999.
Today, Alibaba towers over Chinese e-commerce with more than half of domestic market share, international ambitions, and a dominant position in digital payments through affiliate Ant Financial.
Ma's successors face rising domestic competition just as growth in consumer spending is slowing along with China's economy.
Ma has made little public comment recently about the transition, but last year expressed confidence Alibaba would remain successful.
"The one thing I can promise everyone is this: Alibaba was never about Jack Ma, but Jack Ma will forever belong to Alibaba," he said.
