Alibaba Founder Jack Ma Retires at 55

• Alibaba Founder Jack Ma Retires at 55

Chinese richest man and founder of the world’s leading e-commerce site Alibaba, has resigned as the CEO of the $462 billion company he founded in 1999.

Daniel Zhang, the chief executive, Alibaba, will take charge of things as the company mark its 20th birthday on Tuesday while Jack Ma is expected to build a new life outside the company.

“Jack has left a very deep imprint across every square inch of Alibaba,” said Alan Hellawell, a partner at Jakarta-based Alpha JWC Ventures, who followed the company as an analyst from its early days.

Mr. Zhang is now tasked to actualize Jack Ma’s 2036 economic target of creating 100 million jobs, supporting 10 million profitable businesses and building the company’s customer base from the current 654 million to 2 billion.

In the near-term, Mr. Zhang is expected to grow gross merchandise value from $853 billion recorded in 2018 to $1 trillion.

While Duncan Clark, author of Alibaba, the house that Jack built, believed creating 100 million jobs and serving 2 billion customers amid rising global protectionism is unrealistic, Jack Ma believes with the right talents, nothing is impossible.

We wish Jack Ma all the best going forward.