Key Points
It is a move that wouldn’t get past UK law, but the company that Jack Ma built is planning a huge shake-up with a ruthless search for youth.
Alibaba Group – the Chinese multinational technology conglomerate – is about to undergo a restructuring as new Broom CEO Eddie Wu takes over from Ma.
Only those born after 1985 need apply
In an internal strategy letter, uncovered by Reuters, Wu says he wants to promote employees born after 1985 to the core of his management teams, within the next four years. This would amount to age discrimination under the UK Equality Act of 2006.
This would help maintain a “start-up mindset” and prevent the company from getting “stuck in our old ways”, he said.
New AI strategy
Wu says he wants an AI and “user first” driven strategy as the company faces a challenging future.
The new CEO, one of Alibaba Group’s founders and long-time lieutenant of former chief Ma, is laying out his strategic priorities at a key moment for Alibaba, which is undergoing the biggest organisational restructuring of its 24-year history.
A fortune of more than $30 billion
It is another chapter in the rich story of the company that a determined entrepreneur fought the odds to build which made him a personal fortune of more than $30 billion. It puts Ma in the top 50 richest people in the world.
Ma’s first love was English. He used to work as a tour guide for a hotel near his home in China so he could practise it with foreign tourists.
Failed exam twice
Yet he failed an entrance exam to study English at college, twice- his weak spot was mathematics.
He was third time lucky in 1984. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English in 1988. From 1988 to 1993 he taught English at the Hangzhou Institute of Electronics and
Life changed in the US
Engineering. In 1994 he founded his first company, the Haibo Translation Agency, which provided English translation and interpretation.
His life changed when he visited the United States in 1995 and encountered the internet. He noticed there were few Chinese websites and saw a gap in the market. The rest is history.
