Mubasher: Jack Ma, the face and founder behind China’s e-commerce and retail giant, has announced plans to step down in 2019.

In a letter sent to shareholders and customers, Ma said he was leaving in September next year.

On Saturday, the New York Times had reported that Ma would leave in order to pursue philanthropy and education. “I love education,” he said.

Alibaba’s current CEO Daniel Zhang will take over as executive chairman on 10 September 2019. While Ma is set to leave his post, he will remain a board member in the company he helped found and a permanent member of the Alibaba Partnership.

With a market value of over $400 billion, Alibaba’s portfolio encompasses online selling, film production, and cloud computing. It is considered one of the world's most valuable companies. In 2017, its shares nearly doubled in value.

Ma, who turns 54 on Monday, has a net personal wealth of $40 billion, making him the third richest person in China, according to the 2017 Forbes' China rich list.

Earlier in the week, Ma told Bloomberg TV that he wanted to launch a personal foundation similar to Bill Gates’. "There's a lot of things I can learn from Bill Gates," he said.

"I can never be as rich, but one thing I can do better is to retire earlier. I think someday, and soon, I'll go back to teaching. This is something I think I can do much better than being CEO of Alibaba," Ma added.

Prior to launching Alibaba, Ma worked as an English teacher.

Alibaba, which also specialises in Internet, artificial intelligence (AI) and technology, reported $39.9 billion in revenues in the year ended 31 March 2018.

Zhang has developed Alibaba’s Singles' Day promotion, the world's biggest one-day online retail event.