The Alibaba CEO will inherit the role of chairman next year from Jack Ma, the flamboyant Chinese entrepreneur who built the $420 billion internet business from scratch. He created the world's biggest shopping bonanzaBefore becoming CEO in 2015, Zhang spent much of his career at Alibaba in the group's core online shopping business. "He's mild mannered, he's more Clark Kent, and Jack's the Superman," said Duncan Clark, the author of "Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built." "Jack Ma is a guy with many ideas. He said he preferred it to the gaming business because it's "more relevant to the people's daily life."

Source: CNN September 10, 2018 12:11 UTC