Founder Jack Ma to withdraw from Alibaba in a year

Founder Jack Ma will step down as chairman of the board of Alibaba in a year. Several years ago, he resigned from his position as director of the company. Ma’s resignation is part of the company’s succession plan.

Ma will remain in office for another year as chairman and after that he will serve as a regular member of the Board of Directors until at least 2020, he writes in a letter published by Business Insider, among others. Daniel Zhang will succeed him as chairman of the board of the e-commerce company from China. The move coincides with the company’s twentieth anniversary.

The founder started the plan to prepare a successor ten years ago for fear that the company would fall apart after his disappearance. Alibaba is one of China’s largest tech companies and is known in the Benelux for, among other things, AliExpress, where Chinese traders can offer their goods to consumers from all over the world.