The former CEO of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴), Daniel Zhang (張勇), yesterday resigned as head of its cloud computing unit as the Chinese e-commerce empire wraps up a leadership reshuffle.
Alibaba said it would invest US$1 billion in a technology fund Zhang would establish to support the firm’s strategies for future growth.
Zhang stepped down on the same day he surrendered his roles as Alibaba’s CEO and chairman.
Photo: AP
In a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange, Alibaba said that Eddie Wu (吳泳銘) is to replace Zhang as its new CEO and head of its cloud unit. Wu and Alibaba’s new chairman Joseph Tsai (蔡崇信) assumed their new roles by Monday, with Alibaba saying it has “completed its leadership transition.”
Alibaba expressed its “deepest appreciation” to Zhang for his contributions to the company over the past 16 years.
Alibaba’s Hong Kong stock price was down 3.6 percent following yesterday’s announcement.
In an internal letter dated Sunday and viewed by the Associated Press, Tsai wrote that Zhang had “expressed his wish to transition away from his role” as chief of the cloud business, and that the Alibaba board had “respected and accepted Daniel’s decision.”
“Daniel will continue to contribute to Alibaba by channeling his expertise differently,” Tsai wrote.
Alibaba has been restructuring itself into six business units with the aim of eventually listing them to maximize shareholder returns.
In May, the company said it aimed for its cloud unit to be listed within the next 12 months, reaffirming that plan yesterday.
Zhang joined Alibaba in 2007 and created the company’s annual Singles Day online shopping extravaganza. In 2015, he took over from cofounder Jack Ma (馬雲) as Alibaba’s CEO, and succeeded him as chairman in 2019.
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