(Bloomberg) — Jack Ma urged Alibaba staff to take inspiration from rival PDD Holdings Inc. in a surprise internal memo, in which the billionaire called out the company he co-founded years ago decades to embark on fundamental change.
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Ma, who has mostly stayed away from day-to-day operations since 2020, stunned employees on Wednesday by responding to a staff post on Alibaba’s internal forum. In his brief message, the entrepreneur praised the decisions taken by PDD in past years. But Ma was convinced that Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. would change and “correct its course,” he said in a message confirmed by people close to the forum.
“Every great business is born in winter,” wrote the billionaire. “As the era of AI dawns, it’s an opportunity for everyone as well as a challenge.”
Ma’s missive comes as Alibaba navigates both internal and external turmoil, where a weaker-than-expected economic recovery and emerging rivals such as PDD and ByteDance Ltd. are undermining its once-dominant e-commerce business. An Alibaba representative did not immediately respond to a call and message seeking comment.
The company has experienced a series of internal upheavals this year, starting with the announcement of plans to split the company into six smaller pieces. Daniel Zhang, then chief executive, resigned after the company brought in two longtime Ma confidants, Joseph Tsai and Eddie Wu, to run the company. A few months later, the two announced that they were shelving the highly anticipated spin-off and listing of their $11 billion cloud arm, a stunning about-face that called into question the future direction of the ‘business.
Read more: Alibaba plunges $22 billion as chip wars prompt rethink of breakup
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