Jack Ma Announces "Exciting" Birthday Gift, For Himself

Source: Quartz

Jack Ma, Chinas richest man, will mark his 55th birthday on Tuesday (Sept. 10) by stepping down from his role as chairman of Alibaba, the e-commerce company he grew into one of the 10 most valuable tech firms worldwide.

I still have lots of dreams to pursue. Those who know me know that I do not like to sit idle, Ma wrote in an open letter announcing the move last year, The world is big, and I am still young, so I want to try new things because what if new dreams can be realized?!

The company Ma founded with friends out of his apartment in 1999 is now valued at $460 billionand along the way he became the strongest symbol of Chinas rise as a technology power.

Hes now a fixture at global events featuring economic titans, such as Davos, putting his language skills from his former career as an English teacher to good use with off-the-cuff playful remarkshe got even Jeff Bezos taking notes as Amazon was entering China.

That separates him from many of his Chinese peers, said Brock Silvers, managing director at Shanghai-based private equity firm Kaiyuan Capital.  And his overseas efforts have helped pave the way for future generations of Chinese executives, which means his legacy in this regard will be significantly beneficial.

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