Alibaba Cloud founder Wang Jian returns to company amid sweeping business restructure, sources say
- Wang, 60, is expected to return to Alibaba’s cloud operations as the company restructures
- Wang is widely seen as the man who laid the technological foundations to facilitate Alibaba’s emergence as an e-commerce giant
Wang Jian, the founder of Alibaba Cloud, has returned to Alibaba Group Holding as a full-time staffer just as the Hangzhou-based conglomerate is carrying out a sweeping business restructure, according to people familiar with the matter.
Wang, 60, is expected to take an important role at Alibaba’s cloud operations, which is seen as the future of the group and is currently under the direct management of Daniel Zhang Yong, the group’s chairman and CEO, according to the sources, who asked not to be named as the information is not public. Alibaba is the owner of the South China Morning Post.
The news of Wang’s return was first reported by Chinese media outlets.
Alibaba did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter and has not made any official announcement regarding Wang’s return or his job title.
Wang is widely seen as the man who laid the technological foundations to facilitate Alibaba’s emergence as an e-commerce giant.
In his book Being Online, published in 2016, Wang detailed his experiences building up Alibaba’s cloud business from scratch with the trust of founder Jack Ma.