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Jack Ma will unveil plans for Alibaba on Monday, but in reality, he has spent a decade withdrawing from the Chinese technology company he founded nearly 20 years ago.
Mr. Ma took the reins in 2013, first at Jonathan Lu's home. Daniel Zhang, who replaced Mr. Lu two years later, assumes most of the day-to-day management of the company with platoons of chefs. 'business. "They have a lot of generals," said Duncan Clark, who heads the BDA consulting firm and is the author of a book on Alibaba.
Nevertheless, his planned retirement – focused on education and philanthropy – marks a new era for the world of technology in China, which is barely 20 years old. Mr. Ma avoided the traditional Chinese economic model, which has long been recognized in Hong Kong, passing the baton to sons (for the most part) and to girls. Instead, the next generation was formed among the employees.
But Mr. Ma, a former English teacher, has always been a kind of anomaly: the head of one of the largest technology companies in the world, who does not understand coding, but who respects himself. and a business leader admired but somewhat accidental: in his case, he joked, the acronym C-suite should mean Chief Education Officer.
Thus, he has focused on being the public face of Alibaba and its great visionary, to put in place a long-term strategy and to promote the strong corporate culture of the company from a sanctuary located on Alibaba's vast campus in Hangzhou.
He also spends a lot of his time on the road – 40% according to the South China Morning Post, which Alibaba owns – to fight with heads of state, to launch joint initiatives or to encourage young entrepreneurs in Africa .
This contrasts with Pony Ma, his opposite (and unrelated) number at Tencent. The two companies dominate the technology sector in China, but Ma, who is CEO and chairman of Tencent, is more discreet at the national level, according to company executives, especially when it comes to deal with the government and regulators.
However, Mr. Ma de Alibaba, more peripétical, always takes care to respect the message of Beijing, at least most of the time. He defended a "Digital Silk Road" to complement the Beijing Belt and Road Initiative; and generally acts as the "soft power" of China's face, speaking at meetings like Davos.
According to analysts, this role is unlikely to disappear completely. Mr. Ma is a life member of Alibaba's 36-member partnership, which appoints certain members of the board and carries the torch for the group's mission and culture. He is also a shareholder and has jointly invested with Alibaba via his Yunfeng Capital fund.
His philanthropic interests are also likely to merge. Alibaba donated funds to help eradicate poverty, which is still in line with the government's goals; protect the environment; and towards education.
On the other hand, he "detached himself from the day-to-day operations of the company," after leaving his position as general manager, said a person familiar with the group, leaving it to the other managers to run the business.
"It did not make any difference when he resigned in 2013," Clark said. "But inevitably, Jack is a symbol. Like it or not, what it does is going to be interpreted differently.
Part of that was prominently on Chinese social media on weekends. In a nod to the question of Chinese technology, "Qingdao Uncle" posted on Weibo: "Get out of the front line at a time like this – what wisdom!"
Mr. Ma never organized a profit appeal, which was assigned to Mr. Zhang, Executive Vice President, Joe Tsai, and Finance Director, Maggie Wu. While Mr. Ma looks forward to participating in Singing dance gala that accompanies the annual Singles Day, Mr. Zhang is the architect of the event and is actively working to ensure the smooth running of the 24-hour shopping frenzy.
Similarly, while many of Alibaba's initiatives are printing, they are increasingly being driven by the next generation. Mr. Zhang leads new retail businesses – the mix of online and offline shopping – through operations such as the Hema supermarket chain, where consumers can buy, order deliveries or eat locally.
Zhang also defends Alibaba's grand plan for global borderless trade, which began last year with a bilateral agreement to facilitate the movement of goods shipped by small businesses between China and Malaysia.
advisable
This week's meetings illustrate the dynamics. Mr Ma will be in Russia to witness the signing of a partnership with the Russian Internet company Mail.ru – the long-awaited agreement of the group in the country after the end of the proposed initiative with Sberbank – but will not lead the ceremony.
Another sign of its anticipated planning came this year from a regulatory filing restructuring the company's variable interest entity (VIE), vehicle adopted by many Chinese technology companies listed overseas to circumvent the continental rules that prevent the holding of sensitive assets. by strangers.
Alibaba this year has added additional layers of ownership, so that LIFs are no longer owned by a few people, including Mr. Ma. This move, criticized by some for their complexity, aimed to reduce "major human risk" said Alibaba.
In the approaching retirement, Mr. Ma developed his plans for his next act in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Friday, claiming that there was much to learn from Bill Gates, founder and philanthropist of Microsoft.
"I will never be as rich as Bill Gates, but one thing I can do better than him is to retire earlier," he said.
Additional report by Yuan Yang in Beijing
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