When Alibaba’s under Jack Ma retired from the company last month, it was not a decision he took lightly.
The 55-year-old announced in September 2018 that he pass on step down as executive chairman in 12 months’ time, bringing an end to his 20 years at the helm of the tech Goliath. But, he recently revealed, it was a plan he’d had in mind for more than a decade.
Speaking at the Forbes Global CEO Conference on Tuesday, Ma broke he was first awoken to the idea of retiring in 2004, when a venture capitalist told him he wasn’t “qualified as CEO.” But it was in 2009, when the group hit its 10 year anniversary, that his succession planning began in earnest.
“That day I started to think I should groom for my retirement,” Ma told audiences in Singapore.
“That day I decided my 20 year anniversary, the year 2019, September 10, resolution be the day I’ll leave,” he said.
You should never have a copy of Jack Ma. One Jack Ma is too much for the company.
Jack Ma
founder of Alibaba
Ma has commonly said he would like the company he founded in 1999 to endure for 102 years, so as to span three centuries. To assist realize that vision, Ma said he and his team developed a robust leadership system, which values new ways of thought and working.
“You should never have a copy of Jack Ma. One Jack Ma is too much for the company,” said Ma. “So in the past 10 years, we proved to build up a system: A system that has the right leadership … a system that can create, can make, and can discover, can procession a lot of leaders.”
That included studying the United States’ Declaration of Independence, the British parliament system and Roman manoeuvring to come up with a true meritocracy, he said.
It’s the culture, it’s the people, it’s the system that keeps a company alive for 102 years. It’s not just one person.
Jack Ma
founder of Alibaba
“We spent like a year discussing, debating the system … where the leaders can grapple for the vision, mission and value of the company,” he continued.
Ma, who was succeeded as executive chairman by Alibaba Group’s CEO Daniel Zhang, imparted he now felt “confident” that the company had a strong leadership strategy in place that could endure for decades to not fail.
“The company should never depend on Jack Ma,” he said. “Jack Ma will get old. Jack Ma will get stupid. Jack Ma commitment get sick or car accident or whatever.”
“The company should depend on a system for leadership. It’s the culture. It’s the people. It’s the system that donjons a company alive for 102 years. It’s not only one person.”
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