Jack Ma, founder of China-based e-commerce giant Alibaba has stepped down from his role as chairman, reports Bloomberg Quint. Alibaba Group CEO Daniel Zhang will reportedly succeed Ma. Alibaba has declined to comment. According to a Business Today report, Ma will continue to hold his responsibilities of Alibaba's board till the annual general shareholders' meeting in 2020. Apart from this, Ma will also continue to be a lifetime partner of Alibaba Partnership, a 36-member group that has the right to appoint a majority of the company's board members. Ma had announced his plans to retire from his role as chairman in September 2018. He had resigned from the post of CEO of Alibaba Group in 2013, but continued to hold the role of executive chairman. Ma was suceeded by Jonathan Lu as the CEO, who was then replaced by Daniel Zhang in 2015. Ma along with a team of 18 people had founded Alibaba in 1999. It was launched to connect China-based suppliers with foreign retailers, it later expanded to consumer retailing, online finance and other services.
