Daniel Zhang
张勇
Daniel Zhang in 2023
Born (1972-01-11) January 11, 1972 (age 52)
Shanghai, China
EducationShanghai University of Finance and Economics
OccupationBusiness executive

Daniel Zhang Yong (simplified Chinese: 张勇; traditional Chinese: 張勇; pinyin: Zhāng Yǒng) is a Chinese business executive who was the executive chairman and chief executive officer of Alibaba Group.[1] Before becoming Alibaba's chief, Zhang was best known for his roles as CEO of Taobao[2] and president of Tmall (owned by Alibaba). While running Tmall, Zhang created the Singles' Day shopping holiday, an annual Chinese sales event with gross sales reaching four times higher than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.[3][4][5]

In 2020, Zhang was included on Time's list of 100 most influential people in the world.[6]

Early life and education

Zhang was born in Shanghai in 1972. He studied finance at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.[3]

Career

After graduation, he worked for Barings Bank, just before its bankruptcy due to trader Nick Leeson.[7] 1995–2002, he worked for one of the former "Big Five" accounting firms Arthur Andersen which collapsed due to the Enron scandal.[8] He then worked for PwC for two years starting in 2002.

Zhang first joined Taobao (an Alibaba subsidiary) in 2007 as its chief financial officer. The following year he became the chief operating officer of Taobao. In 2011, Zhang was promoted to president of Tmall, a business-to-consumer shopping spinoff from Taobao. It was during his time running Tmall that Zhang launched the Singles' Day shopping event.

In 2013, Zhang was promoted to chief operating officer of Alibaba Group, and eventually succeeded Jonathan Lu as the CEO in 2015.[2] On September 10, 2018, Jack Ma announced that Zhang would also take over as executive chairman, effective in one year on September 10, 2019.[9]

Alibaba employees pick nicknames for themselves when they first join the company. Daniel Zhang's nickname is "Free and Unfettered Person" (Chinese: 逍遥子; pinyin: Xiāoyáo Zi).[10]

References

  1. ^ "Alibaba Group". www.alibabagroup.com. Retrieved 2017-10-01.
  2. ^ a b Flannery, Russell. "Who Is Alibaba's New CEO?". Forbes. Archived from the original on May 10, 2015. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  3. ^ a b Harjani, Ansuya (2015-05-07). "Why investors are giving Alibaba's new CEO thumbs up". CNBC. Retrieved 2017-10-01.
  4. ^ "Singles' Day Celebrates China's Most Prized Demographic: The Unattached". Observer. 2017-01-05. Retrieved 2017-10-01.
  5. ^ "Chinese shoppers spend a record $25bn in Singles Day splurge". the Guardian. 2017-11-12. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
  6. ^ "Daniel Zhang: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020". Time. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  7. ^ Lucas, Louise. "Who is Alibaba's new boss Daniel Zhang?". Financial Times. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  8. ^ Pressman, Aaron. "Data Sheet—The Low Expectations for Alibaba's New CEO Daniel Zhang". Fortune. Retrieved 2018-09-12.
  9. ^ Choudhury, Saheli. "Alibaba announces Jack Ma succession plan: CEO Daniel Zhang to take over as chairman in a year". CNBC. Retrieved 2018-09-09.
  10. ^ Shao, Heng. "A Peek Inside Alibaba's Corporate Culture". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-10-02.


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