On May 10th, it was the 21st “Alibaba Day”. On the evening of May 9th, Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma appeared at the Alibaba headquarters at the “Entrepreneurial Apartment” by the lakeside cottage with Alibaba Group CEO Daniel Zhang also present. Jack Ma denied the rumors of Alibaba returning to the large conglomerate model.
Reported by “Jiedian Finance”, the lakeside cottage is a replica of the “Entrepreneurial Apartment” recently unveiled at Alibaba’s global headquarters. It is a scaled reproduction of the lakeside garden unit 202 in building 16 where Jack Ma and the founding team started their entrepreneurial journey in 1999. Alibaba employees refer to it as the “Lakeside Cottage”.
On the same day Jack Ma appeared, in the early morning of May 9th, Alibaba Group CEO Daniel Zhang posted an article on the internal network titled “Returning to the Original Aspiration, Starting Entrepreneurship Anew”.
“The replica of the ‘Lakeside Cottage’ is because it was the starting point of Alibaba’s entrepreneurship. It represents Alibaba’s never-ending entrepreneurial spirit and eternal pursuit of innovation. It’s not for nostalgia but to remind all of us that Alibaba is still in the entrepreneurship journey today.”
In 1999, Jack Ma and the founding team returned from Beijing to Hangzhou. Over ten people squeezed into Unit 202 in building 16 at Lakeside Garden on 176 Wenyi West Road. In this simple rudimentary room that Jack Ma rented, using second-hand computers and furniture, Alibaba began its journey.
Since November last year, Jack Ma has frequently appeared in various business sectors of Alibaba, and he appeared at a private enterprise seminar on February 17th this year.
On April 10th, the Alibaba Cloud new fiscal year kickoff meeting was held at the Cloud Valley Park in Hangzhou, where Jack Ma gave a speech.
According to internal sources, there were leaks stating that “Alibaba wants to cancel the ‘1+6+N’ model implemented in 2023 and return to the conglomerate model”. However, when media sought confirmation from Jack Ma, he replied, “I haven’t heard about it”.
On the morning of May 9th, there was a widespread rumor on social media titled “Jack Ma returns to Alibaba on May 10th, set to restart the conglomerate model”.
In response to the rumor, internal personnel at Alibaba stated, “Jack Ma’s return is absolutely impossible, as he is the founder and has never left”. This person also denied the related rumors of “canceling the ‘1+6+N’ model implemented in 2023 and returning to the conglomerate model”.
In 2023, Alibaba Group announced the initiation of the “1+6+N” organizational structure adjustment. Where “1” represents Alibaba Group, “6” includes Alibaba Cloud Intelligence, Taobao Tmall Business, Local Services, Cainiao, International Digital Business, Big Entertainment, and “N” comprises Alibaba Health, Hema, and Quark, among other important businesses. The then Chairman and CEO of Alibaba, Daniel Zhang, said that in the future, business units and companies with the necessary conditions will have the possibility of independent financing and listing.
However, in June of the same year, Alibaba announced that Daniel Zhang would step down from the positions of Chairman and CEO of the group, with those positions being taken over by Eric Jing and Daniel Zhang respectively. Subsequently, Hema Fresh paused its IPO and stopped the complete separation of the Cloud Intelligence Group. In March of the following year, Alibaba Group announced the withdrawal of Cainiao’s application for an IPO in Hong Kong. The grand idea of major business units under the “1+6+N” organizational structure moving towards independent listing has been put on hold.