SoftBank Group Corp. said Monday that Jack Ma, founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., will retire from its board after a 13-year stint that began in June 2007.

Ma's request to resign is subject to shareholder approval at a June 25 meeting, it said. SoftBank Group is one of Alibaba's major shareholders and earns most of its profit from this investment.

It has invested in the Chinese firm since around the time of Alibaba's founding in 1999 as Ma, whose Chinese name is Ma Yun, is a close acquaintance of SoftBank Group CEO and Chairman Masayoshi Son. Ma resigned as Alibaba chairman last September.

Among other management changes, SoftBank Group Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto is set to join the board.

Later on Monday, SoftBank Group will release earnings for the fiscal year that ended in March.

It has estimated a group net loss of 900 billion ($8.4 billion) yen, its largest shortfall and first red ink in 15 years, due to bigger-than-expected losses linked to its investment in We Co., the operator of U.S. workspace provider WeWork.

==Kyodo

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