China’s richest man Jack Ma retires on his 55th birthday

Jack Ma, the executive chairman of e-commerce site Alibaba and the richest man in China, will step down on Tuesday, his 55th birthday. 

He will hand over his role to Alibaba Group CEO Daniel Zhang, according to a company statement. Ma will continue to serve on the company’s board of directors. 

Forbes reported that Zhang has expressed a desire to “globalize” the corporation. He also reportedly was behind the company’s Singles’ Day promotion, which brought in $30.8 billion in sales in 24 hours, beating out Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.{mosads}

Zhang has held a variety of positions at the company, including chief operating officer.

Ma announced last year that he would resign when he turned 55. He and 18 friends founded the company in 1999. He is the 20th richest person in the world, with a net worth of $41.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. 

Tuesday was also the company’s 20th anniversary.