Jack Ma To Steer Alibaba With His Proxies

Alibaba is shaking up its management as the Chinese tech giant races to split into six entities and reinvent itself, write the Financial Times' Ryan McMorrow and Eleanor Olcott.

Photo Insert: While Ma holds no formal position at the company, he remains on the partnership committee, which sets the direction and resembles a de facto board.

Chief executive and chairman Daniel Zhang will be replaced by two top Jack Ma lieutenants, Alibaba co-founders Eddie Yongming Wu as CEO and Joe Tsai as chairman.

The changes will take effect in September. The switch and recent Ma appearances in Hangzhou suggest he intends to play a big role in piloting Alibaba through the restructuring and tougher competitive environment.

At the end of May, Ma summoned top executives at its e-commerce business to talk strategy and plot a path forward for Taobao and Tmall, which have been besieged by competition from upstarts Pinduoduo and ByteDance's Douyin.

While Ma holds no formal position at the company, he remains on the partnership committee, which sets the direction and resembles a de facto board.

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