Yahoo News Alibaba Group In Succession Shake-up: Joe Tsai To Become Chairman; Eddie Wu Appointed CEO
Alibaba Group has announced that co-founder Joe Tsai is taking over as chairman, while Eddie Wu, currently chairman of ecommerce businesses Taobao and Tmall Group, has been appointed CEO.
Current Alibaba Group chairman and CEO Daniel Zhang will focus on the tech giant’s cloud business as chairman and CEO of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group, which is gearing up for an initial public offering. All changes will take effect on September 10.
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Zhang took over as CEO in 2015 and chairman in 2019, steering Alibaba through a transition period after founder Jack Ma stepped down in 2019. Tsai, who is also owner of the Brooklyn Nets basketball franchise, is currently Alibaba’s executive vice chairman.
“This is the right time for me to make a transition, given the importance of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group as it progresses towards a full spin-off,” Zhang said in a company statement.
“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.”
Tsai said in a company statement that Zhang “has made exceptional contributions to the development of Alibaba Group since joining the company in 2007. He demonstrated extraordinary leadership in navigating unprecedented uncertainties affecting our business over the past few years. We believe there is no better leader than Daniel to steer Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group into the next chapter of its journey and future growth.”
The moves follow a major restructuring of Alibaba in March, when the company announced plans to split into six independently run entities, each free to raise funds and separately pursue an IPO.
In addition to Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group, the separate units include Taobao Tmall Commerce Group, Local Services Group, Cainiao Smart Logistics, Global Digital Commerce Group and the Digital Media and Entertainment Group.
Alibaba is China’s biggest ecommerce company and a major player in its entertainment business, but has been hit by the Chinese government’s crackdown on big tech in recent years. In 2020, Beijing halted the planned IPO of Alibaba’s financial affiliate, Ant Group, and later imposed heavy fines on the company for violating antitrust rules.
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