Alibaba co-founder set to leave SoftBank’s board

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - Chinese billionaire Jack Ma is resigning from SoftBank, ending a 13-year-long association with the Japanese telecom giant.

Jack, a co-founder of Alibaba, will resign on June 25, Chinese daily Global Times reported.

“It is not unusual for Jack Ma to resign from the board of #Softbank, partly because he wants to retire, and also because he may devote more attention to other sectors such as philanthropy in the future,” the Chinese daily reported.

This came after the SoftBank Group Corp’s Vision Fund posted a loss of over $17billion in the last fiscal year that ended in March. It is the worst-ever loss the company suffered in its 39-year history.

The SoftBank group suffered massive losses in its two subsidiaries -- including WeWork Cos Inc, a real estate company; and Uber Technologies Inc. Both of the companies are based in the US.

The SoftBank group is set for top level changes -- including three new directors.

“The situation is exceedingly difficult,” SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son said at a news briefing today. “Our unicorns have fallen into this sudden coronavirus ravine. But some of them will use this crisis to grow wings.”