China’s Richest Man, Jack Ma Is Quitting His $420 Billion Company, Alibaba To Become A Teacher

On his 54th birthday, China’s richest man, Jack Ma, announced that he would step down as executive chairman of e-commerce giant Alibaba. The rags-to-riches entrepreneur behind China’s biggest tech company isn’t going to retire. He wants to be a teacher again.

With a net worth of $40.5 billion, Ma is one of the richest people on the planet and a prominent figure. He is well-known for speaking at conferences, advocating globalization, and rubbing shoulders with world leaders.

Ma most recently made headlines for his warnings about the escalating U.S.–China trade war, insisting that “it’s going to be a mess” which could last for decades. His plan to create 1 million jobs in the U.S, a pledge he made after meeting Trump in January 2017, has been “completely destroyed” as a result.

Ma’s decision to step down from the top job at Alibaba will usher in a new era for the $420 billion company, which he grew from a website run out of his apartment to one of the biggest tech companies in the world.

His rise to fame as one of China’s biggest tycoons is a “Hollywood story,” he told The New York Times in a 2005 interview.