Alibaba: Chairman and CEO Succession Plan Is Positive for Corporate Governance

Alibaba Group's leadership plan, which sees the segregation of the chairman and CEO role alongside the appointment of Eddie Wu, the chairman of Taobao and Tmall Group, to succeed Daniel Zhang as Alibaba Group CEO, should enhance corporate governance. Zhang, who will remain CEO and chairman at the Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group, will be able to focus on reaccelerating its slowing cloud revenue and preparing its IPO. We think these shifts will enhance the Cloud Intelligence Group's independence from Alibaba Group. Overall, the leadership changes don't have an impact on our fair value estimates.