Ma Yun who retires for succession

In the afternoon of January 15, Ma Yun declared in the company’s internal letter that he will no longer serve as the CEO of Alibaba Group and will do his utmost to do a full-time job for the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Group. He will also announce the new CEO on May 10.

Ma Yun said in an internal letter, "I am looking forward to writing this letter for a long time and finally waited for this day, this moment."

In the past year, Ma Yun was exhausted and the entire man was in a state of fire everywhere. For Ma Yun, the announcement that he will no longer be the CEO at this time may be a retreat. Another source said that Ma Yun will spend more time balancing his family.

The choice to announce the new CEO on the 10th of May was also due to the “SAR Memorial Day” on this day. It was the starting point for Taobao and was also seen as the most important anniversary of Ali.

Who will be the next?

Peng Lei will be the most likely candidate. Peng Lei was formerly the HRD of Alibaba Group and is currently the CEO of Alipay. She is one of the 18 Arhats founding team of Alibaba. He is also a colleague of Ma Yun at Hangzhou Dianzi University. Her husband Sun Yuyu was the CEO of Taobao. On March 1, 2008, he officially stepped down as the president of Taobao and went to study abroad.

Ma Yun said in his internal letter: "The succession of the founder CEO is a very difficult job, especially for a CEO with a distinct personality and "ET" type who needs me to have great courage and sacrifice." Ma arranged at this time. The new CEO took office, more than advancing. Once there is a situation in which the CEO cannot lead the development of the group, Ma Yun can follow Liu Chuanzhi and quickly release his shot.

Ali development is not affected

Senior Internet analyst Hong Bo believes that because everything was arranged before the resignation of the CEO, Alibaba Group will not be affected internally because of this personnel change. However, after Ma Yun only assumed the position of chairman of the board of directors, he did not rule out that the future decision-making center of gravity of the group will be biased towards the board of directors. With Ali repurchasing shares, Ma Yun has taken control of the situation. Even if he gives up the CEO position, he can still control the future development of the company.

Fang Xingdong, the founder of the blog, also believes that resigning the CEO does not affect Ma Yun’s control over Ali. Ma Yun is behind the control and Alibaba’s team will still function normally. Ma Yun's resignation as CEO can leave more room for the management team, and he can also have more energy to do company strategy, investment and other things, and he can spend more time with his family.

Wei Wuhui, a well-known IT observer, said that Ma Yun’s move seems to have taken a step back, but it hasn’t changed much. The company's new management system is composed of two core units, the Strategic Decision Committee and the Strategic Management Executive Committee. Ma Yun holds the former. Since the 25 business units are relatively independent, the Executive Committee under the leadership of the CEO does not necessarily have much strength.

Therefore, Ma Yun’s move to retreat is the best policy. At this time, the new CEO is appointed to take office and there is more than enough progress. Once there is a situation in which the CEO cannot lead the development of the group, Ma Yun can follow Liu Chuanzhi and quickly release his shot.