Daniel Zhang, the outgoing CEO and Chairman of Alibaba, will relinquish his posts in September. Eddie Wu, an experienced company insider, will take the reins as CEO, and Joe Tsai will be the new chairman. Zhang will, however, stay on as chief of the cloud computing sector, as it advances its spin-off plans. Explaining his departure, Zhang highlighted the "critical" spin-off process that the cloud business is currently undertaking.
On Tuesday, Daniel Zhang, outgoing CEO and Chairman of Alibaba, sent a memo to staff explaining why he is resigning. The company announced that Eddie Wu, an experienced Alibaba veteran, would take over as CEO and Joe Tsai as Chairman in September. This follows their declaration three months earlier to divide the firm into six independent business groups that would be capable of raising funds and going public. Zhang will stay as CEO of the cloud computing entity which is planning for a spin-off and eventually an IPO. "The Cloud Intelligence Group is truly in the midst of accelerating its spin-off plan, and I must devote my full attention to it," Zhang said in the memo to employees seen by CNBC. He added that, "From a corporate governance point of view, there should be a definitive distinction between the board and the management as the Cloud Intelligence Group gets ready for its independence and public listing. It would not be reasonable for me to keep such dual roles during the spin-off process."
Daniel Zhang said that his decision to step down was part of his own plan, which he had been developing for a number of years. During an interview with CNBC in 2018, Zhang mentioned that cloud computing will be the company's "main business" in the future. In a memo sent to Alibaba employees, Zhang announced his intentions of transitioning from the role of Chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group to solely focus on his role as Chairman and CEO of Cloud Intelligence Group, effective September 10th, 2023. He expressed his gratitude to the team and thanked everyone for their trust, support, encouragement, and patience. Zhang furthermore noted that they are now standing at a new starting point with the ambition to unlock new growth through self-transformation. He concluded the memo by expressing his excitement for the next chapter.
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