Alibaba shares jump after founder Jack Ma reemerges with praise of Chinese giant’s ‘transformations’

Alibabafounder Jack Ma on Wednesday praised the company’s reorganization and change over its tumultuous past year، marking the billionaire’s second major public statement to employees in just a few months.

In the past year، Alibaba underwent a historic overhaul and sweeping management changes in a bid to return the Chinese technology giant to growth.

“Overthe past year، amid external and internal doubt and pressures، I have witnessed the birth of a strong and courageous Alibaba team،” Ma wrote in an internal memo to employees، a translated version of which was seen by CNBC.

Alibaba’s U.S.-listed shares were nearly 2% higher in morning trading Wednesday.

Massive listing

Ma all but disappeared from public life at the end of 2020، after Chinese regulatorspulled the plugon the massive listing of the founder’s financial affiliate Ant Group، sparking a crackdown on his empire.

Tougher regulations

Alibaba، whose business spans everything from e-commerce to cloud computing، has seenbillions of dollars wiped off of its value in the past few years، thanks to tougher regulation from Beijing and rising competition from rivals likePDDand TiKTok owner ByteDance.

Last year، Alibaba underwent itsbiggest overhaul in its history، which split the company into six business groups in a bid to make each unit more agile.

This was accompanied by sweeping management changes. Daniel Zhang، longtime CEO of Alibaba Group،unexpectedly quitand thenstepped down as CEO of the company’s cloud unit. Alibaba veterans Eddie Yongming Wu took over as CEO، while Joe Tsai became chairman in September.

Alibaba has since scrapped the initial public offerings of both itscloud divisionandCainiao، its logistics unit.

Ma is reemerging at a time when Alibaba employees are likely in need of a morale boost. He praised both Tsai and Wu for their “future-oriented transformations.”

The Alibaba founder also said Alibaba needs to think what e-commerce looks like in three years’ time، especially since the arrival of artificial intelligence.