Leaving SoftBank's Chair, Jack Ma Wants To Be A Philanthropist

Alibaba CEO Jack Ma (Twitter @AlibabaGroup)

JAKARTA - Jack Ma's decision to become a more generous person seems to have been made up. After announcing his retirement from Alibaba, Jack Ma is also rumored to be leaving his seat from the SoftBank Group's executive board of directors.

Compiled from the New York Times, Jack Ma's resignation follows his statement to retire from Alibaba in September. Furthermore, Jack Ma will withdraw from formal business roles and will focus more on social pursuits or philanthropy.

At the very least, Jack Ma has been a member of SoftBank's executive board of directors for nearly 13 years. Alibaba also owns a few percent of SoftBank's shares.

The exit of Jack Ma follows in the footsteps of his colleague Tadashi Tanai, the founder and CEO of Uniqlo who resigned at the end of last year. Where he will focus on his fashion business.

SoftBank will also find a replacement to fill the chair that Jack Ma has left. Some of the names of the candidates include, Group CFO of SoftBank, Yoshimoto Goto; Cadence Design Systems CEO, Lip-Bu Tan; and Yuko Kawamoto, professor at Waseda Business School. The process of selecting a replacement for Jack Ma at SoftBank will take place on June 25, 2020.

Prior to Jack Ma, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates had also resigned from the company's board of directors. He and his wife Melinda Gates want to focus more on social or humanitarian activities.

"I have made the decision to step down from the two public councils where I serve Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway to dedicate more time to philanthropic priorities. Including health, global development, education and increasing my involvement in tackling climate change," Gates said in a post at LinkedIn as quoted by the BBC, Sunday, March 15.