Alibaba Appoints Eddie Wu as New CEO; Joseph Tsai to Be New Chairman Starting September 10

Following the executive transition, Zhang will continue to serve as chairman and CEO of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group.

By Agence France-Presse | Updated: 20 June 2023 13:22 IST

Alibaba Appoints Eddie Wu as New CEO; Joseph Tsai to Be New Chairman Starting September 10

Photo Credit: Reuters

Alibaba has faced various new headwinds in recent years

Highlights

Alibaba was founded in 1999 by Jack Ma
Alibaba said in late March that it would split into six business groups
Each unit will be managed by its own CEO and board of directors

Chinese tech giant Alibaba said Tuesday it will replace its top boss in a surprise move at the e-commerce titan as it looks to recover from years of slow growth caused by weak consumer spending and a crackdown by authorities.

The move comes as the market leader prepares to undergo a fundamental reorganisation of its sprawling business operations, which span cloud computing, e-commerce, logistics, media and entertainment, and artificial intelligence.

Tuesday's announcement will see chairman and CEO Daniel Zhang replaced by Joseph Tsai as chairman and Eddie Wu as CEO, the company said. Both appointments will take effect on September 10.

[Sponsored] Samsung Galaxy S24: The Ultimate Camera Phone With Smarter On-Device AI

Zhang said in a statement it was "the right time" for him to step down as the firm looks to implement a full spin-off of its advanced cloud computing unit.

Following the executive transition, Zhang will continue to serve as chairman and CEO of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group, the company said.

Incoming top boss Tsai said in a statement that Zhang had "demonstrated extraordinary leadership in navigating unprecedented uncertainties affecting our business over the past few years".

Softbank CEO Uses ChatGPT, Talks to Chatbot Creator OpenAI CEO Often

The firm has faced various new headwinds in recent years as Beijing imposed tighter restrictions on the domestic tech sector, while weak consumer spending saw it record its third consecutive quarter of single-digit revenue growth earlier this year.

In a shock announcement, Alibaba said in late March that it would split into six business groups -- one of the most significant overhauls of a leading Chinese tech firm to date.

Zhang said at the time that the restructuring would give the individual business units the ability to pursue independent financing and public listing plans.

Byju's Said to Lay Off 500-1,000 Employees in Another Round of Job Cuts

Under the new arrangement, each unit will be managed by its own CEO and board of directors.

The company has said it aims to achieve a "more nimble" structure in order to maintain competitiveness in the face of new regulatory challenges and mounting pressures on the global economy.

Alibaba was founded in 1999 by Jack Ma, who has kept a low profile since late 2020 when a speech he made attacking Chinese regulators was followed by Beijing pulling the plug on a planned IPO by Alibaba affiliate Ant Group.

A record fine of $2.75 billion (Rs. 22,600 crore) was later imposed on the tech giant for alleged unfair business practices.

In January, Ant Group said Jack Ma no longer held controlling rights in the company -- a move analysts speculated might have helped pull Ant and Alibaba out of the regulatory doghouse.

What are the most exciting titles that gamers can look forward to in 2023? We discuss some of our favourites on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.