Alibaba says Eddie Wu to succeed Daniel Zhang as CEO in surprise move

Alibaba Group stated in a shock announcement Tuesday Eddie Wu will succeed Daniel Zhang as its chief government.

This succession plan comes after China’s largest ecommerce firm stated in March it’s going to cut up its firm into six business teams. The firm defined at the moment this may enable every business group to lift outdoors funding and go public in probably the most important reorganization in its historical past.

“As everyone is well aware, the development of core technologies such as cloud computing, big data and AI will lead to a tremendous transformation of our society and is of utmost strategic significance,” Zhang stated in an inner memo to Alibaba employees.

“Cloud Intelligence Group is now full speed ahead on its spin-off plans and we are approaching a crucial stage of the process, so it is the right time for me to dedicate my full attention and time to the business,” he added.

Alibaba shares pared losses after the announcement and is buying and selling down 1% in Hong Kong.

The firm additionally introduced Joe Tsai will take Zhang’s place because the group’s chairman. Zhang will proceed to steer the Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group as chairman and chief government after this variation, which the corporate stated will take impact Sept. 10.

Other than cloud intelligence, the opposite 5 business items embrace its Taobao Tmall business; its native providers arm specializing in meals supply and mapping; Cainiao Smart logistics business; its international e-commerce business together with AliExpress and Lazada; and its digital media and leisure business.

“From a corporate governance perspective, we also need clear separation between the board and management team as Cloud Intelligence Group proceeds down the path to becoming an independent public company,” Zhang added within the inner memo.

Zhang’s successor Wu is one in all Alibaba’s co-founders and presently chairman of Taobao and Tmall Group. Brooklyn Nets proprietor Tsai is presently Alibaba’s government vice chairman.

Wu has held a mess of roles in his time on the firm, together with heading know-how at Alibaba’s inception, in addition to chief know-how officer at Alipay and Taobao. He was additionally director of Alibaba Health Information Technology and based Vision Plus Capital, a enterprise capital agency centered on investing in superior applied sciences, enterprise providers and digital healthcare.

Zhang has been Alibaba Group’s chief government since 2015 and chairman since 2019, taking up each roles from founder Jack Ma.

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