Chinese e-commerce giant
Alibaba has announced a massive restructuring plan that will see the behemoth split into six business groups.
Each business group will be managed by its respective CEO and follow a holding company structure.
Each CEO will report to a board of directors and assume full responsibility for company performance.
Alibaba describes the decision as the “most significant governance overhaul in the platform company’s 24-year history.”
A day earlier, Alibaba’s billionaire founder Jack Ma was spotted in China for the first time after spending months abroad.
In an email to employees, Daniel Zhang, the current CEO of Alibaba, said that the “ transformation will empower all our businesses to become more agile, enhance decision-making, and enable faster responses to market changes.”
The six business groups of Alibaba are Cloud Intelligence Group (cloud computing — think AWS), Taobao Tmall Commerce Group (domestic retail businesses), Local Services Group (on-demand businesses like food delivery), Cainiao Smart Logistics (logistics), Global Digital Commerce Group (overseas retail businesses, including Lazada), and Digital Media and Entertainment Group (including the likes of video streaming).
