Zhang’s departure ends a storied tenure, during which Alibaba became China’s largest company and ventured into new arenas such as physical retail, which became one of the company’s fastest growing businesses. An Alibaba representative confirmed Zhang’s departure. The former CEO will now steer a US$1 billion ($1.36 billion) technology investment fund on Alibaba’s behalf.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s former chief Daniel Zhang has decided to quit just months after agreeing to lead its cloud division, introducing another layer of uncertainty to China’s largest e-commerce company just as it’s navigating a complicated breakup.
Zhang decided to step down as head of Alibaba’s cloud division, the company said in an internal memo seen by Bloomberg News on Sunday. The executive assumed that post after ceding his dual roles of chief executive officer and chairman to Eddie Wu and Joseph Tsai, respectively. Wu and Tsai, both close confidantes of Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma, formally took up their positions on Sunday.
