Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has announced that its chief operating officer, Daniel Zhang, will replace Jonathan Lu as chief executive, effective May 10. While the company reports that its revenue grew 45 percent compared with last year, Alibaba founder Jack Ma also announced a hiring freeze and “a companywide emphasis on efficiency.”
Zhang has been with Alibaba for eight years. He started out as general manager of Taobao Mall which became one of Alibaba’s most important businesses. He became COO in September 2013. Today, during an on-camera interview with CNBC, Zhang said the company will focus more on mobile – more people in China are buying more stuff on their phones – and will continue to crackdown on counterfeit products. Zhang said, with a smile, that such crackdowns benefit not just the customer but the platform, too.
