Putin asks Jack Ma: ‘You are still so young, why are you retiring?’
Ma’s planned stepping down in his 50s is a rare case in the Chinese business world, where tycoons often remain in control well into old age.
When Alibaba Group Holding executive chairman Jack Ma Yun announced this week that he planned to retire in a year at the age of 55, it left many scratching their heads, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.
At the Eastern Economic Forum that took place on Tuesday in Valdivostok, Russia, Putin interrupted a round table discussion on entrepreneurship when he saw Ma to ask him why he was taking such an early retirement, according to a posting on Alibaba’s official Weibo social-media account.
“I’d like to ask that young man sitting over there eating Russian snacks, Jack Ma, you are still so young, why are you retiring?” Putin asked Ma, who was also a participant at the forum. The Eastern Economic Forum is the fourth time that Ma and Putin have met.
Ma seemed caught by surprise at the sudden question. However, he told Putin he was no longer a young man.
“I spent my 54th birthday in Russia yesterday,” Ma responded. “I have been [running Alibaba] for 19 years and achieved something, but there are still many things I hope to accomplish, like education and philanthropy.”