Alibaba is replacing Daniel Zhang as chief executive and chair of the Chinese ecommerce giant, with a top lieutenant to its former boss Jack Ma set to take the reins, reports the Financial Times. Eddie Yongming Wu, an Alibaba co-founder and chair of Alibaba’s flagship ecommerce sites Taobao and Tmall, will replace Zhang as chief executive in September, the company announced on Tuesday. Wu served as a special assistant to Ma from 2014 to 2019. Alibaba co-founder and vice-chair Joseph Tsai will fill Zhang’s position as chair of the board.
The leadership changes come at a critical time for Alibaba after it announced plans to break up its tech empire in March and refocus on its ecommerce roots. Alibaba will pursue separate listings for its logistics and grocery businesses within the next 18 months and spin off its cloud division.
Zhang, who has served as chief for eight years, is to remain in charge of the cloud unit, which he took over in December as it struggled to maintain growth. “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,” said Zhang in a statement.
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