Alibaba founder Jack Ma has reappeared in the Chinese public eye for the first time in months. Alibaba subsequently announced a massive restructuring of its business. Experts saw the move as a sign that the Chinese government is softening its stance on tech giants after starting a crackdown in late 2020.
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Alibaba Founder Jack Ma on Wednesday praised the company’s restructuring and changes over the past tumultuous year, the billionaire’s second major public statement to employees in just a few months.
Last year, Alibaba underwent historic reforms and sweeping management changes in an effort to return the Chinese tech giant to growth.
“In the past year, amid external and internal doubts and pressure, I have witnessed the birth of a strong and courageous Alibaba team,” Ma wrote in an internal memo to employees, which was seen by CNBC. Translated version.
Alibaba’s U.S.-listed shares rose nearly 2% in early trading on Wednesday.
In late 2020, Chinese regulators halted a massive listing of the founder’s financial arm, Ant Group, triggering a crackdown on Jack Ma’s empire, which all but disappeared from public life.
Alibaba, whose businesses span everything from e-commerce to cloud computing, has been hit by heightened regulations from Beijing and growing competition from rivals such as PDD and TiKTok owners byte-beating.
Last year, Alibaba carried out the largest reorganization in its history, dividing the company into six business units to make each unit more agile.
What followed was sweeping management changes. Longtime Alibaba Group CEO Zhang Yong unexpectedly resigned from his post as CEO of the company’s cloud division. Alibaba veteran Wu Yongming took over as CEO in September, while Tsai became chairman.
Alibaba has since canceled the initial public offerings of its cloud unit and logistics unit Cainiao.
Alibaba employees may need a morale boost as Jack Ma re-emerges. He praised Tsai Ing-wen and Wu Wu for their “future-oriented transformation.”
The Alibaba founder also said that Alibaba needs to think about what e-commerce will look like in three years, especially with the arrival of artificial intelligence.
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