Uncover the secrets of the new leader and ask Alibaba four times to "hand over the baton again"

Chao News Client Reporter Zhu YaoJust today (June 20th), Alibaba is experiencing a new adjustment.Zhang Yong, Chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group, issued a letter to all members announcing that Alibaba's self transformation is progressing smoothly and smoothly

Chao News Client Reporter Zhu Yao

Just today (June 20th), Alibaba is experiencing a new adjustment.

Zhang Yong, Chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group, issued a letter to all members announcing that Alibaba's self transformation is progressing smoothly and smoothly. A new business cluster of 1+6+N has basically taken shape, and the boards of directors of various business groups have begun to operate. Multiple business listing and financing plans have also been launched. The holding group will mainly assume the role of innovation incubation headquarters, and the entire Alibaba is moving towards the future with a new posture.

At the same time, Zhang Yong announced that Alibaba Cloud is in the most critical period of upward development and must be fully committed. In order to adapt to future development norms and requirements, he will no longer serve as Chairman and CEO of Alibaba Cloud Group and focus on Alibaba Cloud development.

Since March, Alibaba's "biggest reform in 24 years" has received considerable attention from the outside world.

However, the group chairman and CEO make another contribution, which makes people curious about the new direction of Alibaba: why does Zhang Yong focus on Alibaba Cloud Cloud? Why did Joseph Tsai and Wu Yongming take over? How is the overall progress of Alibaba 1+6+N transformation currently? How will Alibaba Holdings Group position itself in the future?

Why Zhang Yong no longer serves simultaneouslyChairman and CEO of Alibaba and Alibaba Cloud?

Zhang Yong focuses on the development of Alibaba Cloud Cloud for two main reasons. First, as Alibaba Cloud Cloud will be completely separated from Alibaba, the job adjustment is "to meet the needs and norms of future development".

Second, "Alibaba Cloud is in the most critical period of upward development".

In terms of growth rate, Alibaba Cloud's growth rate plummeted from 84% in Q4 in 2018 to 4% in Q3 in 2022, facing huge challenges. In May, Zhang Yong stressed in a letter to Alibaba Cloud Cloud employees that Alibaba Cloud Cloud's second venture has just begun. "Only with more entrepreneurial mentality and more responsibilities can we build a world-class technology company".

On June 20, Zhang Yong, Joseph Tsai and Wu Yongming officially started the handover

With the start of Alibaba Cloud's spin off and the introduction of external war investment, Zhang Yong's full-time investment and personal involvement are conducive to the smooth transition of Alibaba Cloud Cloud to the Key Stage of spin off, financing and listing, and to the subsequent improvement of Alibaba Cloud's industrial and global competitiveness.

Of course, an Alibaba insider also believes that this adjustment of the chairman and CEO precisely indicates the smooth progress of reforms over the past period of time. Since the reform in March, a new business cluster of six major business groups and N companies has basically taken shape, and all six major business groups have announced their respective board members and started substantive operation.

Zhang Yong's activities in recent months have also confirmed his investment in Alibaba Cloud and AI. At an internal sharing meeting in Alibaba, Zhang Yong said: "The cloud is too important strategically, and the time window is too precious. Digital intelligence is in a high-speed blowout period both at home and abroad, so it is very important to seize the opportunities of the times." On May 26, when talking with the main leaders of Tianjin, Zhang Yong talked about helping the development of local cloud computing, artificial intelligence, Big data and other industries. At the 2023 Siemens Digital Economy Forum on June 14th, Zhang Yong was highly optimistic about the future prospects of artificial intelligence. "Due to the development of generative AI technology, we have seen a completely different digital future, and all industries can be reshaped through AI

As the successor of Jack Ma, Zhang Yong's image within Alibaba has always been diligent and approachable. After 8 years as CEO and nearly 4 years as Chairman, he explored the Taobao business model, founded Tmall and Double 11, and led Allin Wireless, making milestone contributions to Alibaba.

Most people will remember that Lao Xiao (Zhang Yong, Alihua's name: Xiaoyaozi) founded Tmall and launched the Double 11. However, reviewing the difficult and critical moments of the company's development in the past few years, Lao Xiao's stability in the market is also very important for the company, "added an Alibaba source.

Why Joseph Tsai and Wu YongmingServe as the Chairman and CEO of the Holding Group?

The succession of Joseph Tsai and Wu Yongming looks fresh, but the insiders are "not surprised".

First of all, although Joseph Tsai is low-key, he has never been far away from Alibaba. Previously served as the Executive Vice Chairman of the Group's Board of Directors; Wu Yongming has a strong technical background, and in the eyes of many old Ali people, "Wu Mama has always been Ali's secret weapon.

The succession of the two is traceable. In May, Joseph Tsai became the chairman of Cainiao Group and the director of Taotian Group; Wu Yongming served as the chairman of Taotian Group and also served as a director of Overseas Digital Business Group and Local Life Group. The positions of these two individuals have already connected several core businesses of Alibaba, and there is inherent consistency with the positions of Chairman and CEO of the Holding Group.

For a large company like Alibaba, the selection of chairman and CEO is undoubtedly multifaceted, but the most basic thing is to serve the future development positioning of the company.

Joseph Tsai's strengths lie in strategic investment, globalization background, and his understanding of Ali. In Alibaba's early days, there were many "four beams and eight pillars", including the equity system and partnership system, with his writing and figure. From the public introduction, he served as the CFO of the Group from the establishment of the company in 1999 to 2013, and led the company to go public in New York in 2014. Later, he was responsible for strategic investment. At present, he is also a member of the investment committee of Alibaba Group and Ant Group.

From the perspective of the company's development direction, Alibaba is indeed facing a "breakthrough". The core e-commerce business is facing fierce market competition, and Alibaba's market value has also decreased by 70% from the highest of nearly $900 billion. Globalization has become an imperative option for Alibaba to "reverse roll". Judging from the official evaluation of Ali, "Joseph Tsai's experience of globalization and insight into the macro environment are powerful supports for Alibaba to further promote internationalization". Under the leadership of Joseph Tsai, Alibaba has set the direction of accelerating the sea going and globalization.

Wu Yongming's strength lies in his technical background. He once served as the chief technology officer of B2B, Taobao, Alipay and other important businesses, leading the construction of the underlying technical architecture of related businesses; Led the creation of the Alibaba Mama platform, the core business of the group, and innovatively incubated mobile Taobao to promote the group's wirelessness; Led investment and mergers and acquisitions such as UCweb and Gaode Map, and established Yuanjing Capital in 2015.

It is said that Wu Yongming, nicknamed "Wu Ma", is easy-going and has a strong appeal within the company. From Alibaba's positioning as an "innovation incubator", Wu Yongming's technological background will further broaden Alibaba's technological vision and better focus on the forefront.

Perhaps it is for the above reasons that Ali officially stamped that "Joseph Tsai and Wu Yongming have the corresponding vision, experience, influence and appeal, which is the best choice to assume the above responsibilities".

The overall progress of the 1+6+N transformation?

Firstly, the board of directors of each business has been established and put into substantive operation, and the CEO responsibility system under the leadership of the board of directors has been implemented. This is seen as an important sign of Alibaba's truly independent operation of several core businesses. "The core team has started to better think about how to face market problems.

Secondly, the middle and back-end capabilities have entered relevant business groups and companies in an orderly manner, and some shared services have begun to be provided in the form of professional service companies, such as the establishment of "Love Orange Technology", resulting in relatively stable and orderly personnel flow and business relief.

Once again, the work of splitting, financing, and listing is being carried out in an orderly manner. According to the news in May, Cloud Intelligence Group will be completely spun off and listed in the next 12 months, Hema's listing will be completed in the next 6 to 12 months, and Cainiao Group's listing plan will be completed in the next 12 to 18 months. It is understood that these works are all in progress.

In addition, in the view of an industry insider, this adjustment of the chairman and CEO can also be understood as a result of the smooth progress of the 1+6+N reform; Joseph Tsai, Wu Yongming and other senior Ali people are in charge to ensure the smooth closure of the follow-up reform.

What is the positioning of Alibaba Holdings Group in the future?

According to official information, the holding group will mainly assume the role of innovation incubation headquarters.

In the eyes of some insiders, Alibaba has always had the ability to innovate and incubate, which has always been. Because the previous Alibaba Zoo was actually hatched in this way.

Perhaps the biggest difference in the positioning of the group after the reform lies in "focusing on small and expanding" and "focusing on the long term". As mature as the six major business groups, the holding group no longer directly manages and operates, but the attention released by the group can be more focused on new tracks and technologies, solving long-term innovation and development propositions. This is the underlying logic of "one mature, one listed".

"To make an analogy, the main responsibility and orientation of the holding group should be to discover, incubate, and cultivate the next Taobao, Tmall, Alipay, and Alibaba Cloud. We should find historical opportunities in the new technology wave," said the insider.

Of course, as the parent company, Alibaba remains a highly influential and appealing base. At the same time, there will definitely be collaboration and collaboration among various business groups themselves, but they will only cooperate in a more market-oriented manner.

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