China’s most famous entrepreneur has been out of the spotlight after clashing with officials. But in recent months, he has been buying shares in the tech giant he co-founded as its stock has plunged.
Daniel Zhang, who had been expected to give up his chief executive and chairman roles this month, is also leaving as head of the company’s cloud division.
The economy is open again, helping Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent claw back in the first quarter from a miserable 2022, though they will likely face continuing skepticism from investors.