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Alibaba Company Reshuffles Management – Maggie Wu

ALIBABA COMPANY – China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd said that Maggie Wu, its chief financial officer, will move to take charge of the firm’s strategic acquisitions and investment unit.

According to the company, the move is part of a management reshuffle effort. Wu would take over the task from Joe Tsai, said Alibaba in a statement on its WeChat account.

This is the company’s most crucial business reshuffle after co-founder Jack Ma announced his retirement.

Many experts see the decision as an effort to boost the company’s investments on the backdrop of slowing economic growth.

The decision also comes as Alibaba Company starts investing in new business lines. For example, cloud computing after core e-commerce business peaked.

Last month reports said the company was seeking a second listing in Hong Kong to raise around $20 billion.

Chief Executive Officer Daniel Zhang will take the helm as chairman when Jack Ma retires on September 10. He said that to guarantee innovation, they must “Invest in our future.”  He added that the company was in the process of an “organizational upgrade.”

Meanwhile, Wu would oversee Alibaba’s goal to integrate the company’s investments into its overall ecosystem.

According to a person with direct knowledge of the matter, Tsai will stay executive vice-chairman while helping Wu with the new role.

Wu has been the company’s chief financial officer since 2013. Tsai, on the other hand, has been on the board and served on investment committees of Alibaba and Ant Financial.

He came to the company in 1999 as a significant dealmaker. He had helped boost major investments from entities, such as the US investment bank Goldman Sachs.

Alibaba Company Stock Split

Meanwhile, Alibaba has also announced a proposal for a one-to-eight stock split. This fanned rumors that it is preparing for a secondary listing in Hong Kong.

The company invited shareholders to vote on the offer before its annual general meeting next month. Alibaba’s board has given the go-ahead to the initiative, recommending shareholders to do the same.

Alibaba explained the reason behind the stock split. It said that it was to increase the company’s flexibility in “future capital activities.”

Last week, reports said that the company already filed initial paperwork for the next listing. If such listing materializes, it could become the most extensive offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The city has become one of the top tech IPO destinations since it changed its listing rules two years ago.

Before, Alibaba cited the exchange’s lack of flexibility when it chose the US over Hong Kong in its 2014 listing.

Among the tech firms that went public in Hong Kong are Razer, Xiami, Tencent’s China Literature, and Meitu.

However, despite the hype, others have reservations with Hong Kong and tech firms. The companies are often not profitable when listed.

As a matter of fact, Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan previously warned that the US markets are probably more conscious of tech companies compared to Hong Kong retail investors.

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