After presiding over one of the most spectacular creations of wealth the world has ever seen, Jack Ma is giving up the reins of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Jack Ma stepped down as executive chairman of China's largest company on his 55th birthday after amassing $41.8 billion fortune — a trove surpassed only by India’s Mukesh Ambani in Asia, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. 

Jack Ma stepped down on Tuesday (September 10) as part of succession plan announced a year earlier. He will stay on as a member of the Alibaba Partnership, a group of 36 people with the right to nominate a majority of the company's board of directors.

He became Asia’s richest person in 2016, overtaking Dalian Wanda Group Chairman Wang Jianlin. The title now belongs to Reliance Industries Ltd Chairman Ambani, who’s worth $47.4 billion, according to a Bloomberg ranking of the world’s 500 wealthiest individuals.

The company has shifted its focus to serving China's growing consumer market. Domestic businesses accounted for 66% of its $ 16.7 billion in revenue in the quarter ending in June.