Alibaba begins new era as founder departs
Jack Ma has officially retired from Alibaba on Tuesday. He celebrated his retirement with a big bash at an Olympic-sized stadium in the company’s hometown of Hangzhou.
Ma is stepping away from Alibaba at a relatively young age, writes CNN. He has said in the past that he wants to retire earlier than Bill Gates, who stepped down as chairman of Microsoft at the age of 58 in 2014.
Some people have linked the timing of Ma’s decision to the Chinese government’s increasing restrictions on internet companies. But Ma denied that Beijing was forcing him out when he spoke at the Alibaba event last September.
“I got rumors from outside China, saying: ‘It’s because the government wants to push you down.’ Nobody can [push you out], if you don’t want to leave, right? Because I know it’s nothing about the politics or government,” Ma said.
Still, some observers say that Ma had flown a bit too close to the sun, and leaving Alibaba is partly about self-preservation. The charitable projects Ma has signaled he is interested in pursuing in retirement have the added benefit of being unlikely to cause waves with China’s leadership.
Daniel Zhang, currently Alibaba’s chief executive, will replace him as executive chairman, reports BBC.
Inside Alibaba Mr Zhang is reportedly known as Xiaoyaozi, the name of a character in a Chinese martial arts novel. It means the “unfettered one”- someone who stays out of battles but is great at training others.
More Amazon news
Shanghai is still under lockdown. Is Guangzhou next?
A shift in China’s COVID-19 policy remains a distant prospect Shanghai is easing its two-week lockdown, but most of its businesses still are closed. The redirection of goods is becoming more difficult and expensive as cargo facilities in other Chinese cities are now...
Amazon will let sellers build independent online stores
Bloomberg reports that Amazon is working on a product that that will let retailers run independent stores. The project hasn’t been announced officially yet, but former company executives told Bloomberg, that Amazon has been working on it since late 2017 and could...
How can New Year holidays in the US and Canada affect cargo delivery dates
Customs and shipping companies working schedule during the New Year Important information for more accurate forecasting of cargo processing speed in the US and Canada during the New Year holidays. Please note that Customs and shipping companies will not work during...