Alibaba's Shares Plunge as Departing CEO Resigns from Cloud Division

12 Sep, 2023

Alibaba's Shares Plunge as Departing CEO Resigns from Cloud Division

Chinese tech giant Alibaba has made a surprising announcement regarding its outgoing CEO, causing a significant drop in the company's shares. On Monday, Alibaba's stock experienced a 3.5 percent decline after revealing that CEO Daniel Zhang would not be continuing his leadership role in the company's cloud business as previously planned.

Back in June, Alibaba had disclosed its intention for Zhang to step down as the group CEO and focus exclusively on leading the cloud intelligence unit. However, Eddie Wu, originally slated to succeed Zhang as group CEO and director in September, will now take on the dual role of chairman and CEO of the cloud business on an interim basis.

In a statement issued to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Alibaba expressed its profound gratitude to Mr. Zhang for his 16 years of contributions to the company, including his roles as Chief Executive Officer since 2015 and Chairman since 2019, as well as his leadership of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group starting in 2022. The statement also indicated that Zhang himself had expressed a desire to transition away from his position in charge of the cloud unit.

According to a letter signed by Alibaba co-founder Joseph Tsai, the company's board respected and accepted Zhang's decision after careful consideration, appointing Eddie as the acting chairman and CEO of the Cloud Intelligence Group with immediate effect. The letter emphasized that Zhang would continue to contribute to Alibaba in a different capacity.

Zhang, who joined Alibaba in 2007, is widely recognized for his role in launching and leading the highly popular Singles' Day shopping festival since its inception in 2009. He took over as Alibaba's chairman in 2019, succeeding the company's founder, Jack Ma.

Alibaba, headquartered in Hangzhou, stands as one of China's largest and most influential tech companies, with a wide-ranging presence in e-commerce, cloud computing, logistics, media, and artificial intelligence.