Alibaba's Jack Ma resigns from SoftBank board, as he pulls back from formal business roles to focus on philanthropy; SoftBank to propose three new appointments
This closes the formal chapter of a two-year retreat. Jack Ma announced his plan to step down from Alibaba to pursue philanthropy in education back in 2018 [[a:933181]], handed the chairman role to Daniel Zhang during a stretch when the Hong Kong listing was delayed [[a:945691]], and has now resigned his SoftBank board seat while pulling back from formal business roles altogether.
The resignation matters because it severs one half of the cross-board structure that has bound Alibaba and SoftBank since Masayoshi Son invested early and sat on Alibaba's board from 2005 — a symmetry that unravels within weeks on both sides.
First-order effects
SoftBank must fill the seat immediately, proposing three new board appointments to replace a director who brought two decades of China-tech judgment at exactly the moment its portfolio was under strain.
Second-order effects
The move is reciprocated within weeks: Son steps down from Alibaba's board [[a:955047]], dissolving the personal governance link between the two companies and leaving their relationship resting on capital rather than shared directorships.
Third-order effects
Formal exit does not mean lost influence — by 2023 sources describe Ma still actively shaping Alibaba strategy, including engineering its corporate split [[a:838599]], pointing toward founders governing through informal weight after shedding official titles.
The trend: Founder-investor cross-board ties are being formally unwound even as founder influence migrates into informal channels that boards no longer capture.
whewww Jack Ma has left, my main question is how this affects the actual structure of the Vision Fund. Son leveraged stakes in companies like Alibaba to convince investors to sign on instead of actual capital if I remember correctly so is that over? https://www.nytimes.com/...
SoftBank Group said that Jack Ma, the co-founder of Alibaba, has resigned from its board. The announcement came just hours before SoftBank was set to announce what is widely expected to be the largest annual loss in company history. https://www.nytimes.com/...
WATCH: Japan's SoftBank reported a $18 billion loss at its giant Vision Fund, highlighting the deepening crisis at its portfolio companies from the global downturn https://www.reuters.com/... https://twitter.com/...
https://www.bloomberg.com/... “The situation is exceedingly difficult,” Son said at a briefing discussing the results on Monday. “Our unicorns have fallen into this sudden coronavirus ravine. But some of them will use this crisis to grow wings.”
The story of more than a few VCs right now: Portfolio write downs off the back of overheated valuations & Coronavirus impact. And talks of an L-shaped recovery aren't helping sentiment.👉🏾 #SoftBank Vision Fund Posts $17.7 Billion Loss on #WeWork , #Uber https://www.bloomberg.com/…
The Saudi-backed Vision Fund lost $18bn last year, contributing to SoftBank's worst-ever annual loss. Uber's IPO was disappointing, WeWork was a disaster, and now the pandemic will probably clobber some of the fund's other investments. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
SoftBank Vision Fund posted unrealized losses of $10.4 billion during the March quarter, and WeWork was just the tip of the iceberg. Uber: -$405 mln WeWork: -$1,065 mln Others: -$8,982 mln TOTAL: -$10,452 mln
SoftBank Group Corp said on Monday that Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma will resign from its board, in the latest departure by a high-profile ally of CEO Masayoshi Son. https://www.reuters.com/...