Alibaba co-founder and chairman Jack Ma will not step aside on Monday as widely reported, he will only unveil a succession plan, the South China Morning Post reported Sunday.

The SCMP, which is owned by Alibaba, said China’s most famous tech billionaire will “unveil a succession strategy” on Monday — his 54th birthday — but remain the company’s executive chairman for the foreseeable future.

The New York Times ran an article on Friday, based on an interview with Ma, saying the former teacher turned billionaire planned to use his birthday to announce his retirement as chairman of Alibaba to focus on philanthropy.

The paper quoted Ma as saying the decision was “the beginning of an era”.

But an Alibaba spokesman told the SCMP that the New York Times’ story “was taken out of context, and factually wrong”.

“An Alibaba spokesman said Ma remains the company’s executive chairman and will provide transition plans over a significant period of time,” the SCMP wrote.

The paper added that the Monday succession strategy was part of a plan “for grooming a generation of younger executives to take over the reins” of the company.

Eileen Murphy, a spokesperson for the New York Times, said the newspaper stood by its story. (NAN)