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

Mukesh Ambani, Bill Gates, Jack MA to donate for $1 bn clean tech fund

The goal is to build cos that will help deliver the next generation reliable, affordable, and emissions-free energy to the world

The Breakthrough Energy Coalition (BEC), which has Mukesh Ambani and Alibaba’s Jack Ma as members, will invest more than $1 billion in Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), an investor-led fund that will finance emerging energy breakthroughs for affordable and reliable energy to reduce greenhouse emissions, BEC said in a statement.

"It is extremely exciting for us to launch this fund as the next step in the commitment made by the Breakthrough Energy Coalition last year. Our goal is to build companies that will help deliver the next generation reliable, affordable, and emissions-free energy to the world,” said Bill Gates, chairman BEV.

“Breakthrough Energy Ventures will collaborate with other investors, governments, research institutions and corporate partners, bringing to the table an investor-led fund with internal scientific expertise, a long-term horizon, and a tolerance and understanding of the investment risks required to transform energy markets,” according to BEV statement.

Read source>>>