Alibaba enters the era of Joe Tsai

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On September 10, Zhang Yong, chairman of the Board of directors of Alibaba Group, officially handed over the baton, and Tsai Chongxin, executive vice chairman of the Group, replaced Zhang Yong as the new chairman of the Board of directors.

After the “Ma Yun era” and “Zhang Yong era”, Alibaba has officially entered the “Tsai Chongxin era”.

The change was expected. In June this year, Alibaba suddenly announced that Joe Tsai will replace Zhang Yong as chairman of the board of directors, and Wu Yongming, chairman of Taotian Group, will replace Zhang Yong as chief executive officer and replace Zhang Yong on the board of directors, effective September 10. Zhang will continue to serve as chairman and chief executive officer of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group.

In an announcement at the time, Alibaba praised Zhang’s performance over the past few years: “We would like to thank Mr. Zhang for his outstanding contributions to Alibaba Group’s development over the years, and for his extraordinary leadership in the face of the unprecedented uncertainty that has impacted the company’s business over the past few years.”

In fact, in the past few years, Alibaba’s development has suffered a lot of twists and turns, and new challengers in the industry have emerged, and Zhang Yong has led Alibaba through the most difficult years.

In June, Zhang said: “It has been a great honor and privilege to lead Alibaba Group as CEO for the past eight years and as Chairman for the past four years. Given the importance of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group to promote a full spin-off, this is the right time for the handover. I will be working closely with Joe Tsai and Daniel Wu over the coming months to ensure a seamless transition.” Going forward, I am committed to strengthening Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group’s market leadership and making it easier for companies of different sizes and industries to access cloud computing and AI resources as they continue their digital transformation. Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group is well positioned to seize the exciting new opportunities opened up by the rise of generative AI.”

Joe Tsai said: “Since joining the company in 2007, Daniel Zhang has made remarkable contributions to the growth of Alibaba Group, and he has shown extraordinary leadership in steering the company forward in the face of unprecedented uncertainty affecting the company’s business over the past few years. We believe there is no better leader than Daniel Zhang to lead Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group into the next chapter of its journey and into future growth.”

Mr. Tsai continued, “Wu has served as Chief Technology Officer for key businesses such as Taobao and Alipay during many important stages of Alibaba’s development, playing a crucial role in building our technology platform and guiding our strategic direction. He led the team to create our own monetisation platform on Taobao and Tmall, driving the birth of the mobile Taobao app and driving the company into a mobile-first era. I look forward to working with Yongming Wu to spark our next phase of growth through technology and innovation.”