Former Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang steps down from cloud unit in surprise move amid leadership transition

Alibaba’s new CEO Eddie Wu Yongming, who like Tsai assumed his new role on Sunday, has also taken over for Zhang as acting chairman and CEO of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group on the same day, according to an Alibaba spokesperson.

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“Four years ago, when [Alibaba founder] Jack [Ma] passed the chairmanship torch to Daniel, he set in motion our commitment to an institutionalised succession system that supports a sustainable enterprise for centuries,” said Tsai, who is also chairman of the Post, in an internal letter to Alibaba employees on Sunday. “Today, Daniel has entrusted that torch to Eddie and me under the continuity of our system for leadership succession.”

He also said the company decided it will “invest US$1 billion in a technology fund” established by Zhang. “The fund will support Alibaba’s strategy of investing for future growth and continuing to develop our technology ecosystem,” Tsai said, adding that Alibaba Partnership will give Zhang the distinguished title of “Aliren Emeritus”, a first for the company.

Alibaba “will continue to execute its previously announced plan to spin off Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group under a separate management team to be appointed”, the spokesperson said.