Lazada appoints new CEOs for Malaysia and Thailand

Southeast Asian ecommerce giant Lazada has announced the appointment of two new chief executives for its Malaysia and Thailand operations.

Magnus Ekbom, Lazada’s new acting CEO for Malaysia

Magnus Ekbom, the group’s co-founder and current chief strategy officer, will take up the additional role of acting CEO of its Malaysian operations, replacing Leo Chow.

“Under Leo’s leadership, Lazada Malaysia has seen tremendous success, with record-breaking growth and achievements year on year,” the company said in a statement.

Although Chow will be stepping down as the CEO of Lazada’s Malaysian operations, he will remain part of the Alibaba Group. As for Ekbom, he will look into Lazada’s presence in Malaysia and develop its long-term strategy in Southeast Asia.

Ekbom was previously the global venture development manager at venture capital firm Rocket Internet. He had served as the CEO of Lazada Indonesia from 2012 to 2015.

Meanwhile, Lazada appointed Jessica Liu as the new CEO for its Thailand operations, succeeding Jack Zhang effective immediately. She will also remain as the group’s president and head of LazMall while Zhang will be taking a regional role in the company.

See also: Online grocery wars: Grab challenges Lazada for dominance

Liu had started off her career at China Machine Press and then went on to take up leadership roles at Amazon and Alibaba’s Tmall. She has been Lazada’s president since February 2020.

“Liu, with her Tmall experience, fits the focus that Thailand has for 2021 in building LazMall into a fashion destination and the platform of choice for brands,” the company said.

In June 2020, Lazada named Chun Li as its new group chief executive officer, taking over from Pierre Poignant.

Correction (January 8, 08:09 pm): This article was rectified by editing out a part that the management change come right after a Reuters report on Lazada’s culture clash as it was incorrect.