Veteran company executive Jonathan Lu takes the helm at Alibaba
In time for an IPO at the e-commerce giant that could value it at US$80b, veteran executive Jonathan Lu is replacing Alibaba's founder
Alibaba Group, China's largest e-commerce firm, yesterday named Jonathan Lu Zhaoxi as its new chief executive effective from May 10, replacing founder Jack Ma Yun.
Ma, who announced in January that he would step down as chief executive, will remain executive chairman of the Hangzhou-based company.
The ascendancy of Lu, 43, may be this year's most anticipated chief executive appointment apart from the Vatican's search for a new pope, since Alibaba is widely speculated to be preparing an initial public offering.
The IPO is projected to be the global internet industry's biggest since Facebook went public last year.
Lu will oversee a budding e-commerce conglomerate made up of 25 business units after its restructuring is completed, up from seven units at present.
He will also help lead a group of mainland investors, including private equity firms and major express delivery companies, in providing 100 billion yuan (HK$125 billion) to fund the first phase of an elaborate domestic logistics network. This infrastructure is expected to be able eventually to support up to 10 trillion yuan in annual online sales.