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Alibaba brings in new CFO in management reshuffle dividing domestic and overseas e-commerce amid Big Tech crackdown

  • Toby Xu succeeds long-time Alibaba veteran Maggie Wu as chief financial officer in April, but Wu to remain as board director
  • The management reshuffle, which includes two new divisions for China and overseas businesses, comes amid tightening regulations on Big Tech at home

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The logo of Alibaba Group lit up at its office building in Beijing on August 9. Photo: Reuters
Jane Zhang
Alibaba Group Holding promoted Toby Xu to succeed long-standing chief financial officer Maggie Wu, and named new leaders to its commerce business, in the biggest management reshuffle for one of the world’s largest e-commerce companies as CEO Daniel Zhang seeks greater agility and strategic clarity.
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Xu, the deputy chief financial officer who joined the company in July 2018, will succeed Maggie Wu as the company’s CFO on April 1. Wu will remain director of the board and become a member of Alibaba’s sustainable development committee, the Hangzhou-based company said in a statement.

“The announcement of Alibaba’s CFO transition today is the culmination of extensive preparation over many years and a part of Alibaba’s leadership succession planning,” Wu said. “I trust Toby even more than I trusted myself when I first took up the CFO position years ago.”

Since joining Alibaba almost 15 years ago, Wu has helped lead three company public listings as CFO: Alibaba.com on the Hong Kong stock exchange (HKEX) in 2007, Alibaba Group Holding on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014, and a secondary listing in 2019 in its return to the HKEX.

“She is humble and resilient, and has been my irreplaceable and closest partner over the years,” said Zhang, who took over as CEO in 2015 and chairman in 2019. “Going forward, Maggie will leverage her deep experience to support Alibaba in new ways.”

The management reshuffle comes as the company navigates a new regulatory environment amid Beijing’s crackdown on the country’s tech sector. This year, Alibaba and on-demand service provider Meituan were hit with antitrust fines of US$2.8 billion and US$530 million, respectively. A cybersecurity review into ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing also recently resulted in the firm announcing its exit from the New York Stock Exchange just months after its IPO.
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Alibaba, owner of the South China Morning Post, reported an 87 per cent third-quarter decline in net income year on year, falling to 3.4 billion yuan (US$524 million). It was the company’s first adjusted profit decline in more than five years.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in physics from Fudan University in Shanghai, Xu joined PwC in 1996, where he eventually became partner, a position he held for 11 years. He was appointed deputy CFO of Alibaba in July 2019 and also serves as a director of Sun Art Retail Group, Lianhua Supermarket Holdings and Red Star Macalline Group.

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