China's Richest Man Jack Ma to Retire From Alibaba Next Week

Co-founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group, Jack Ma told the New York Times that he has decided to retire from his role on 10 September to pursue his philanthropic interests. He will remain on the board of directors and spend his retirement in creating a charitable foundation for education.

His last day at Alibaba will coincide with his birthday (he turns 54) and the Chinese Teacher's Day. Ma was an English teacher before he started the e-commerce platform Alibaba in 1999 that turned into a giant success. He is the richest man in China with a net worth of $36.6 billion as recorded by Forbes in July. He considers himself as an accidental businessman and told NY Times that he has been planning for the Jack Ma Foundation for 10 years.

He stepped down from his role as the chief executive officer (CEO) in 2013 but remained as the face of Alibaba and guided the company's growth from e-commerce to Hollywood production to cloud computing and online payments. The company went public in 2014 at $25 billion, making it the biggest ever IPO (initial public offering) in the history. It's market value now is worth more than $400 billion.