The iconic entrepreneur Jack Ma has officially stepped down from the company he worked 20 years to build. The founder of Alibaba announced this move in the wake of his 55th birthday, but he will still maintain a presence in the company and serve an advisory role. Ma is a pioneer in the e-commerce industry, arguably right behind Jeff Bezos, and has amassed a net worth north of $41 billion. He was worked as a school teacher before launching Alibaba in 1999 and growing into the world’s second-largest online retailer behind Amazon. Ma’s company is perhaps more impressive though considering the strict business regulations and slow internet adoption in China and fierce competition from eBay to win the Asian consumer market.
Alibaba has quickly grown into one of the largest corporations in all of Asia with a market cap of over $455 billion. Their expansive product offerings and low prices cement them as a sustainable company with growth potential due to rising growth potential and improving supply chains. The loss of Jack Ma does not diminish the outlook of Alibaba as they already have a dominating presence in the Asian market as the go-to online retailer. Ma has selected present CEO Daniel Zhang to take the reins of Alibaba, but it is likely that Ma will still be consulted with regarding major decisions.
Business Barrage 