Alibaba Group Holding starts its overhaul to revamp cloud business
Alibaba Group Holding is taking the first steps toward revamping its cloud business by overhauling its leadership, aiming to revive growth and drive an artificial intelligence (AI) boom after canceling a long-awaited spin-off from the $11 billion unit.
The company has appointed three new executives to lead key business areas within Alibaba Cloud Intelligence, two of whom will report directly to Chief Executive Officer Eddie Wu, sources said.
Key to that is the so-called public cloud – the domestic cloud services arm aimed at enterprise customers in China – which will be led by Liu Weiguang, said the person, who asked not to be named because the plans are not public.
The move, aimed at regaining market share lost to state-backed rivals, comes a week after Alibaba reversed its plans to spin off and spin off its Cloud Intelligence business, disappointing investors and precipitated a $24 billion sell-off in two days.
The reorganization clarifies reporting lines after nearly a year of management turmoil, starting with the departure of former president Jeff Zhang in 2022.
Alibaba Cloud has been without a long-term CEO since then. Daniel Zhang briefly took charge of the company after stepping down as Alibaba Group CEO in June, before abruptly quitting about three months later.
Two other senior managers join Liu in the top positions, leading the smaller hybrid cloud services and cloud infrastructure divisions. The three are veterans in the business and will share the majority of the Chinese market between them.
The moves were previously reported by Leifeng. Wu currently serves as interim CEO and chairman of the cloud unit.
Alibaba Cloud did not respond to a written request for comment. The cloud division is at the core of Alibaba’s AI initiatives.
The new appointments could foreshadow a broader restructuring following Alibaba’s surprise decision last week to cancel its planned spinoff.