Alibaba CEO Quits Cloud Business Causing Shares to Decline

Alibaba, the prominent Chinese technology giant, has made a surprising announcement regarding its leadership changes. The outgoing CEO, Daniel Zhang, will not be continuing as the head of Alibaba’s cloud business, which caused a notable decline of 3.5 percent in Alibaba’s shares.

This decision marks a departure from the initial plan revealed in June, where it was announced that Zhang would step down as the CEO of the Alibaba Group to focus exclusively on leading the cloud intelligence unit. Now, Eddie Wu, originally scheduled to assume the role of group CEO and director in September, will temporarily hold the positions of both chairman and CEO of the cloud business.

Alibaba conveyed its gratitude to Mr. Zhang in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Zhang has played a significant role at Alibaba for 16 years, serving as CEO since 2015 and chairman since 2019, in addition to his leadership role in Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group since 2022. The company also noted that Zhang had expressed his desire to step back from his cloud leadership role, a decision that was respected and accepted by Alibaba’s board.

In the letter signed by Alibaba co-founder Joseph Tsai, the company expressed its commitment to having Zhang continue to contribute to Alibaba in a different capacity. Zhang is notably recognized for his pivotal role in spearheading Alibaba’s immensely popular Singles’ Day shopping festival since its inception in 2009. He took over as Alibaba chairman in 2019, succeeding the company’s founder, Jack Ma.

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