Alibaba's Jack Ma resigns; SoftBank proposes three new board members

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 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.
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 propose three new appointments to the board, including group Chief Financial Officer Yoshimoto Goto, at its annual general meeting on June 25. The number of board members will expand to 13.

SoftBank will also propose the election of Lip-Bu Tan, CEO of chip design software firm Cadence Design Systems who is also chairman of venture capital firm Walden International, and Yuko Kawamoto, a professor at Waseda Business School as outside directors. Kawamoto will become its only female board member.

That meets a demand from activist investor Elliott Management, which has pressed SoftBank to improve board diversity, and also wants a new subcommittee to oversee the investment process at the $100 billion Vision Fund.

The pressure comes as Son's top-down management style is under increased scrutiny with the fund expected to report its third consecutive quarterly operating loss later on Monday, plunging the group as a whole to a record loss.

The board is largely comprised of SoftBank insiders and confidants. It also includes Yasir al-Rumayyan, who heads the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund that is the Vision Fund's biggest outside backer.

Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani adds $18 billion to his fortune in 2019

In comparison, Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma's net worth grew $11.3 billion, while Jeff Bezos lost $13.2 billion.

It’s been a good year for Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani. The Indian tycoon added almost $17 billion to his wealth as of Dec. 23, the most in Asia, taking his net worth to about $61 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. In comparison, Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma’s net worth grew $11.3 billion, while Jeff Bezos lost $13.2 billion.

The surge in Ambani’s fortune this year was fueled by a 40% jump in the shares of his Reliance Industries Ltd., a conglomerate that’s pivoting more toward consumer offerings than its core oil refining and petrochemicals businesses. The rally in the stock is more than double the gains for India’s benchmark S&P BSE Sensex index during the period.

Investors are piling money on Reliance, betting newer businesses such as telecommunications and retail could soon unlock value. With a goal of building a local e-commerce giant to challenge the likes of Amazon.com Inc. in India, Ambani has spent almost $50 billion -- mostly debt -- on a wireless carrier that’s become India’s No. 1 within three years of debut.

“Mukesh Ambani changed the narrative for Reliance Industries” as a leader not just in oil and gas but also in telecom and retail, and possibly soon in e-commerce as well, said Chakri Lokapriya, chief investment officer at TCG Asset Management, which oversees $3 billion in assets in Mumbai.

“He successfully identified, invested and executed rapidly to create this new narrative,” Lokapriya said. “We believe this can potentially double shareholder value over the next four years.”

The newer businesses are likely to contribute 50% of Reliance’s earnings in a few years, from about 32% now, Ambani said in August. A representative for Reliance didn’t reply to an email seeking comment on Ambani’s wealth.

Business Standard

Welcome to the future! Alibaba opens first hi-tech hotel in China

FlyZoo Hotel in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, where Alibaba has its headquarteres, is known as the company's first 'future hotel'.

Chinese internet giant Alibaba on Tuesday opened its first hi-tech hotel in Hangzhou where guests can check-in by simply scanning their faces, the state media reported.

FlyZoo Hotel in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, where Alibaba has its headquarteres, is known as the company's first "future hotel".

Customers can check into the hotel by simply scanning their faces. The facial recognition system installed in the hotel also enables customers to use their faces as key cards to open doors and access other hotel services, Xinhua news agency reported.

Users can also control the lights, television and curtains in the room via Alibaba's voice-activated digital assistant, while robots are deployed to serve dishes, cocktails and coffee.

Hotel bookings and check-out can also be done with a few clicks on mobile through an app.

"The AI-based solution can help customers save time and relieve hotel employees from repetitive work," said Wang Qun, CEO of FlyZoo Hotel.

Wang said the new AI system will help to improve the management efficiency of the hotel, by reducing more than half of the labour force.

For fiscal year ended March 2018, the company reported revenues of USD 39.9 billion.

The hotel is the latest example of Chinese tech companies' foray into traditional industries such as the hospitality sector, the report said.

E-commerce giant JD.com announced in October its strategy to put smart home and electronic devices sold on its platform into hotels, in an effort to boost online sales.

In July, Baidu teamed up with Intercontinental Hotels Group in Beijing to allow guests to use its voice-controlled assistant to adjust room temperature and order room service at ease.

Before that, social media giant Tencent introduced QQfamily, a similar tech solution for hotel operators, in the southern city of Zhuhai last year.

"We want to install a 'smart brain' for hotels," said Wang. "In the future, we will continue to make hotels smarter and more automated, as well as create more customised experiences for consumers," Wang added.

Business Standard