One of China’s most famous entrepreneurs, Alibaba founder Jack Ma, holds a cult-like status among many of his country’s youth. He started the company by linking small Chinese exporters to the global marketplace online, and he once pledged to help US businesses create a million jobs by facilitating sales to China. The co-founder is also a prolific philanthropist and a martial arts fan who sparred with Jet Li in his acting debut last year.
Ma’s legacy hasn’t been without its share of challenges, though. Alibaba’s stock has slumped in the past year, and its flagship e-commerce platform faces increasing competition from local competitors. Speculation over whether Ma would step down as chief or hand over control to his handpicked successor, Daniel Zhang, has rattled investors. And chatter around the cafeteria at the firm’s headquarters, a two-hour drive from Shanghai, often turns to tanking employee stock options and whether Zhang has what it takes to run the colossal business.
Zhang announced several new leadership appointments on Wednesday in a move seen as an effort to quell ongoing unease. Among them, Jiang Fang, an Alibaba (9988. HK) partner and its chief talent officer, will oversee the company’s international consumer-facing and wholesale platforms, including Lazada and AliExpress, as well as logistics arm Cainiao. The executive will also keep her role as a member of Alibaba’s partners’ committee, a group that has a say in the company’s direction but is not part of the board.
Jiang, 35, is the youngest member of the committee. She has been a critical player in the international expansion of the company’s retail platforms; its giant cash cows now comprise more than half of its total revenues. She was previously president of domestic platforms Taobao and Tmall, where she oversaw significant revenue growth that helped them become the world’s top e-commerce sites.
The reappointment of Jiang comes despite her alleged affair with a social media influencer, which turned into a major PR nightmare for the firm and its partners committee. The reversal of his expulsion from the partnership last April came a day after it scrapped its cloud unit’s listing, which had been planned for 2019.
The appointment was an apparent attempt to reassure investors that Alibaba is committed to its growth strategy and that its founder remains in complete control of the company he started from his bedroom as a 20-something. Analysts said the company was aware of a need to bolster its public image. The announcement also highlighted the need to re-focus the company on its core e-commerce operations.
