Daniel Zhang to be Alibaba boss when Jack Ma hangs up his boots next year

Jack Ma has remained the public face of Alibaba and is a charismatic advocate for China's technology industry

 

International News: Jack Ma will step down as executive chairman of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. in exactly 12 months’ time with Chief Executive Officer Daniel Zhang to succeed him at Asia’s most valuable company.

Ma will remain on the board until Alibaba’s annual meeting of shareholders in 2020, the Hangzhou-based company said in a statement Monday. His retirement as executive chairman will coincide with his 55th birthday.

Ma has become synonymous with the company he helped found in his apartment nearly 20 years ago and has used the chairman’s post to develop managerial talent since ceding the CEO’s role in 2013. He is moving on with Alibaba in a dominant position in China and pushing into overseas markets from Southeast Asia to Russia. Leadership will now fall to Zhang and the 35 other partners who control the company.

Jack Ma Stepping Down

“Starting the process of passing the Alibaba torch to Daniel and his team is the right decision at the right time because I know from working with them that they are ready,” Ma said in the statement. “Since he took over as CEO, he has demonstrated his superb talent, business acumen and determined leadership.”

A former English teacher, Ma started Alibaba.com in 1999 as a business-to-business marketplace with 17 co-founders. An investment from Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. helped the company expand to allow consumers in China buy online and fueling its rise. Through the Taobao and Tmall platforms, it is responsible for billions of dollars in sales and last year saw daily package deliveries reach...continue reading

Paytm payments bank to miss Diwali date

Mobile wallet company Paytm is likely to miss the Diwali target for commercial launch of its payments bank as it is still awaiting the final clearance from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

“We’re awaiting the final application approval from RBI. We have everything ready. As soon as the approval comes, we will do a ‘beta’ launch of the bank, which is within the company. By the end of the year, we will have a commercial launch of the payments bank,” Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and chief executive officer of Paytm, told Business Standard in a telephone interview.

Paytm has shifted its deadline for opening its payments bank thrice since April. Sharma, who has got the licence in his name, is expecting the launch by the year-end.

Paytm, which was among the 11 recipients of payments bank licence, plans to start the project with an initial capital of Rs 300 crore. After the initial euphoria, three out of the 11 recipients withdrew their applications. However, Paytm hopes to make it one of the biggest businesses in its portfolio and the second largest revenue earner after wallets.

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