Meet Daniel Zhang, the ‘free and unfettered spirit’ who will succeed Jack Ma as Alibaba’s chairman
Beijing: Among the 86,000 employees who work at Alibaba Group Holding, chief executive Daniel Zhang is not known as Daniel, or Mr. Zhang, or even boss. Instead, employees refer to him as
xiaoyaozi, or the “free and unfettered one.”
The nom de guerre, after a character from a Louis Cha wuxia novel, has appeared on his business card, Chinese company press statements and in Alibaba’s literature. Mr Zhang will soon have larger shoes to fill. Yesterday, Alibaba executive chairman Jack Ma announced a succession plan for the company, with a transition period of one year, at the end of which Ma will step down from his role and hand the reins over to Mr Zhang. Since Mr Zhang, known as Zhang Yong in mainland China, was named chief executive in May 2015, “Alibaba has seen consistent and sustainable growth for 13 consecutive quarters,” Mr Ma said in a letter to staff, including the South China Morning Post, which is owned by the Hangzhou-based company.
“His analytical mind is unparalleled, he holds dear our mission and vision, he embraces responsibility with passion, and he has the guts to innovate and test creative business models.”
The succession plan comes as Mr Ma, who co-founded Alibaba together with 17 others and has for years been the face of the company, looks to distance himself from company operations as he shifts focus to teaching, education and philanthropy.
Mr Ma will remain the executive chairman for the next 12 months to ensure a smooth and orderly transition.
“I’ve worked closely with Daniel since 2007 when he first joined us as chief financial officer of Taobao,” said Joseph Tsai, Alibaba’s executive vice-chairman who was the company’s finance chief until 2013.
“On intellect and energy, I can barely keep up with him. But it’s his thoughtfulness and humility that is most impressive as a leader.” Mr Zhang, 46, had previously served as Taobao’s chief financial officer, president of Tmall.com and as Alibaba’s chief operating officer before succeeding Jonathan Lu as chief executive.
“Daniel [Zhang] is a proven international business leader and innovator with a strong track record of delivering results,” Mr Ma said in a statement in 2015 when the announcement was made that Mr Zhang would become Alibaba’s chief executive.
“He has the confidence of our entire management team, and there is no better person to lead Alibaba Group as we embark on the next stage of our growth on top of the strong foundation that Jonathan helped build.”
Since then, the Shanghai native has spearheaded the company’s mobile-first strategy for its e-commerce platforms, overseen billiondollar acquisitions of companies like Youku Tudou, and is now focused on expanding the company’s New Retail strategy, which looks to combine online and offline shopping to give consumers a seamless experience while simultaneously helping to boost business for small and medium enterprises. Under his leadership, Alibaba now has a market capitalisation of US$420.9 billion and is Asia’s most valuable firm.
But Mr Zhang is determined not to let the company’s stock price affect how Alibaba runs its business. Mr Zhang first joined Alibaba in 2007 and played a key role in helping to drive Taobao to profit.
He is best known for starting the “Double 11” shopping festival, now commonly referred to as Singles’ Day, which has evolved from bringing in 50 million yuan in sales during the first festival in 2009 to 168 billion yuan (US$25 billion) last year.
Mr Zhang now has his sights set on helping Alibaba further its New Retail strategy and to expand overseas.