Daniel Zhang, Alibaba CEO, at the company’s Hong Kong IPO debut / Photo credit: Alibaba
Daniel Zhang, former CEO of Alibaba Group, is joining China-based VC firm Firstred Capital as managing partner – six months after leaving the Chinese tech giant. In his new role, Zhang will “explore a new future for merger and acquisition funds,” the firm said on its WeChat account.
Not much is known about Firstred Capital, which was founded in 2019 by Liu Xiaodan, formerly the chairman of investment company Huatai United Securities. According to its website, the firm has invested in the semiconductor industry as well as healthcare for both humans and animals.
The former Alibaba executive is bringing 16 years of experience to Firstred Capital, having led some of the most critical developments in the Chinese conglomerate. He led the transition of Tmall from a purely PC offering into a mobile app and spearheaded the idea of “Singles Day” in the platform.
Zhang – whose nickname at Alibaba was “the free-spirited one” – had become the firm’s group CEO in 2015 before stepping down in June 2023. He was initially set to continue leading Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group – the firm’s computing services arm, but he surprisingly left the company in September 2023.
Zhang’s departure from Alibaba Group was part of its major restructuring, which began a year ago, amid an intensifying battle with the likes of PDD. While Alibaba was set to form six different business units and pursue an IPO for each, the company shelved plans to list its logistics arm and grocery chain in November 2023.
See also: Why Alibaba should spin off Lazada
Editing by Putra Muskita and Dhania Putri Sarahtika
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