In the middle of restructuring
Online giant Alibaba surprisingly dismisses boss
06/20/2023 11:54 am
The cloud business should bring Alibaba back to the front after losing market share. Group CEO Daniel Zhang is driving the division particularly forward, but now surprisingly has to vacate his chief post.
After eight years at the helm of the company, Alibaba boss Daniel Zhang is surprisingly replaced. According to the announcement, the management of the Chinese e-commerce giant is to take over on September 10th Eddie Wu, who most recently managed the group’s own trading platforms Taobao and Tmall. Also on this date, Joseph Tsai, his previous deputy on the board, will take Zhang’s place as head of the board of directors – the manager is also considered a long-time confidante of Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma.
Zhang will continue to lead the cloud business. “Given the importance of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group on the way to a full spin-off, this is the right time for a change,” Zhang said in the release. He pointed to “the advent of generative AI” which is “opening up exciting new opportunities that Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group is well positioned for”.
Some observers are critical of the change in personnel, especially since Zhang’s surprising departure comes at a time of upheaval. The group is struggling with market share losses after the pandemic abated and had recorded three consecutive quarters of single-digit sales growth.
In March, the online retailer announced a far-reaching restructuring and the split into six areas – with the aim of boosting its own growth and creating independent market leaders in areas such as cloud computing and logistics through to international trade. The plan was considered a grand vision by the outgoing Alibaba boss.