Alibaba's Jack Ma resigns from SoftBank board, to focus on philanthropy

Tokyo: 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.

SoftBank said it will propose three new appointments to the board, including group CFO Yoshimoto Goto, at its annual general meeting on 25 June.

The departure of Ma, who retired as Alibaba’s executive chairman in September, comes as he pulls back from formal business roles to focus on philanthropy.

SoftBank will also propose the election of Lip-Bu Tan, CEO of chip design software firm Cadence Design Systems, and Yuko Kawamoto, professor at Waseda Business School, to the board.