Jack Ma Is Prepared To Step Away From Alibaba ... Just Not Yet

Even as the Street is coming to terms with the relinquishing of office by Howard Schultz, CEO of

Starbucks Corporation SBUX

, reports of another high profile departure have begun doing the rounds.

A report filed by the Nikkei Asian Review showed that Ma intends to quit as chairman of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA.

Ma's Plans To Leave Alibaba

Ma had given up the CEO position in May 2013 ahead of the IPO of the company, transferring the reins to Daniel Zhang Yong.

The announcement on Friday came at a closed door conference in Hong Kong, which was broadcast live on Facebook Inc FB. Ma reportedly said, "I don't want to die at the office. For e-commerce, I've already spent 17 years to build it. I want to retire early. I really want to ... start [looking] at the world."

Also on Friday, the company denied rumors of its speculated move to buy Indian e-commerce company Snapdeal.

At last check, Alibaba was rising 0.73 percent to $90.50.

Image Credit: Rico Shen [GFDL or CC BY-SA 4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons

BABAAlibaba Group Holding Ltd

$104.12-3.58%