![]() Together with Mr Tsai, who is now Alibaba’s new chairman, Mr Wu will follow through on a company overhaul that could prove crucial to its long-term growth. In March, when Mr Zhang unfurled the restructuring and spin-offs, Mr Wu was appointed chairman of the core Taobao-Tmall marketplaces, and a director of Alibaba’s international commerce and local services divisions. In hindsight, Mr Wu’s rise to Alibaba’s top was not without clues. Mr Wu was one of the strongest proponents for the IoT device maker – founded, incidentally, by Alibaba alumni – and was pictured front and centre in his trademark black-framed glasses at the virtual event. In March 2021, he popped up during the listing ceremony of Vision Plus portfolio firm Tuya, which raised US$900 million in a rare debut for a Chinese tech firm during regulatory and economic turmoil. ![]() Like many Ant honchos, Mr Wu then largely stepped away from the limelight. Market regulators killed the IPO a month later. Then disaster struck – his boss Mr Ma in October took the stage at the Bund Forum in Shanghai and, in a now-infamous speech, blasted state banks for operating like pawn shops and regulators for behaving like old men. He was one of more than a dozen early employees whose shares would make them billionaires upon Ant’s debut – in Mr Wu’s case, US$1.8 billion. Our app allows you to source products from global suppliers. In 2020, before China kicked off its crackdown on the country’s once-freewheeling technology sector, Mr Wu was on the verge of finally hitting pay dirt. What is is one of the worlds leading B2B ecommerce marketplaces. After Alibaba debuted in New York in 2014 in what was then the world’s biggest initial public offering (IPO), he served as Mr Ma’s special assistant for four years, until the tech mogul conferred the chairmanship on Mr Zhang. ![]() Later, Mr Wu spearheaded the creation of Taobao’s ad platform, Alimama, which let merchants buy prominent placement and rapidly became Alibaba’s cash cow in the early years. The technology grew so valuable that Mr Ma in 2011 spun it off to create the underpinnings of Ant Group. In 2004, he designed Alipay, the online payments service modelled on PayPal that went on to help wean China off cash. He was the chief architect of Alibaba’s flagship products – ranging from the eBay-style Taobao marketplace to its namesake wholesale site. He followed his mentor to Beijing when Mr Ma did a stint at the Commerce Ministry, and then tagged along when Mr Ma left to create Alibaba at his lakeside apartment in Hangzhou – before Mr Ma’s right-hand man Joseph Tsai (now appointed chairman) had even met the entrepreneur.Īs Alibaba grew, so too did Mr Wu’s role at the e-commerce behemoth. Mr Wu stuck with his mentor despite a string of now-infamous rejections by bureaucrats – a loyalty that may now be coming full circle. In 1996, Mr Wu joined Mr Ma’s very first venture, China Yellow Pages, after stumbling across a job listing on a local newspaper, the computer science major said in a Tsinghua University interview. The company was founded by Chung Tsai and Yun Ma on Jand is headquartered in Hangzhou, China.Affectionately nicknamed “Wu Ma” – or “Mother Wu” – for his ability to counsel and rally people, Mr Wu was impressed by the then young and idealistic Mr Ma, who envisioned digitalising China’s fast-growing private sector by building webpages for small business owners. The Cloud segment includes Alibaba Cloud and DingTalk. The Cainiao segment has Cainiao Network and offers domestic and international one-stop-shop logistics services and supply chain management solution. The Local Consumer Services segment is involved in "To-Home" businesses, which include Ele.me, local services and delivery platform, and Taoxianda, and "To-Destination" segment businesses which include Amap, the provider of mobile digital map, navigation and real-time traffic information, and restaurant and local services guide platform. The International Commerce segment focuses on international commerce retail and wholesale businesses. The China Commerce segment includes China commerce retail and wholesale businesses. The Core Commerce segment consists of platforms operating in retail and wholesale. It operates through the following business segments: China Commerce, International Commerce, Local Consumer Services, Cainiao, Cloud, Digital Media and Entertainment, and Innovation Initiatives and Others segments. engages in providing technology infrastructure and marketing reach.
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