Workers wait for visitors to the Alibaba booth at an expo in Beijing on June 5, 2023. Alibaba Group on Tuesday, June 20, 2023 announced that Eddie Wu, chairman of its e-commerce group, would succeed Daniel Zhang as CEO in a major management reshuffle, as Alibaba undertakes a restructuring of its businesses in hopes of spurring growth. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba announces new CEO and chairman in major management reshuffle – Winnipeg Free Press

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HONG KONG (AP) — China’s Alibaba Group has announced a major management reshuffle as the e-commerce giant restructures into six different business divisions to adapt to fast-changing technologies.

The moves also are aimed at spurring growth at a time when the Chinese economy is slowing despite an end to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions a half-year ago.

Eddie Wu, chairman of its e-commerce group, will succeed Daniel Zhang as CEO, the company said in a statement Tuesday.


Workers wait for visitors to the Alibaba booth at an expo in Beijing on June 5, 2023. Alibaba Group on Tuesday, June 20, 2023 announced that Eddie Wu, chairman of its e-commerce group, would succeed Daniel Zhang as CEO in a major management reshuffle, as Alibaba undertakes a restructuring of its businesses in hopes of spurring growth. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Workers wait for visitors to the Alibaba booth at an expo in Beijing on June 5, 2023. Alibaba Group on Tuesday, June 20, 2023 announced that Eddie Wu, chairman of its e-commerce group, would succeed Daniel Zhang as CEO in a major management reshuffle, as Alibaba undertakes a restructuring of its businesses in hopes of spurring growth. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Zhang will be CEO and chairman of Alibaba’s cloud computing unit, which has been approved to be spun off and is expected to be listed for trading within a year.

Alibaba’s current executive vice chairman, Joseph Tsai, is to succeed Zhang as chairman of the Alibaba Group. Tsai, who owns the NBA basketball team Brooklyn Nets and is the chairman of Alibaba-owned Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post, is a Taiwan-born Canadian citizen. He helped to found Alibaba in the late 1990s.

Wu was the company’s technology director when the company was founded in 1999. He also served as special assistant to Alibaba’s co-founder and former board chairman Jack Ma between 2014 and 2019, and has had stints as CTO of Alibaba’s digital wallet business Alipay and as a chairman of Alibaba Health.

Alibaba’s reorganization will allow five of its six business divisions, excluding the core e-commerce business, to raise outside capital and go public.

The changes take effect Sept. 10.

Zhang, became Alibaba Group’s CEO in 2015 and succeeded Ma as chairman in 2019. He is known for creating the Singles’ Day shopping festival, which over the years has grown to become the world’s largest online shopping extravaganza.

“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,” Zhang said in a statement.

“I look forward to working closely with Joe and Eddie in the coming months to ensure a seamless transition.”

Alibaba’s Hong Kong shares were down about 1.5% Tuesday afternoon following the news.

Alibaba has in recent years come under scrutiny by the Chinese government amid a crackdown on the technology industry.