Alibaba Shares Surge on a Split Plan into 6 Units
<p><a href='https://financialmodelingprep.com/financial-summary/BABA'>Alibaba (NYSE:BABA)</a> shares surged over 14% on Tuesday following a Bloomberg News report that the company is planning to divide its business into six new units to boost its declining share price. Each unit may pursue independent fundraising and initial public offerings (IPOs) when the timing is appropriate, as per CEO Daniel Zhang. </p>
<p>While e-commerce remains the core business, Alibaba has made significant strides in cloud and media. Zhang will head the cloud intelligence division, highlighting the significance of cloud and AI. Jiang Fan is expected to lead the digital business unit, and Trudy Dai will likely head the Taobao Tmall online shopping division.</p>
<p>Since founder Jack Ma criticized regulators and banks in China in a speech in November 2020, shares in Alibaba have plummeted by over 70%. Additionally, a planned $37 billion initial public offering for Ant Financial, an affiliate of Alibaba that operates Alipay, the world's largest mobile payment platform, was canceled due to Ma's comments. As a result of the controversy, Chinese officials initiated a wider crackdown on the country's most influential tech firms. Although Ma has largely remained outside of China since then, he recently visited a school in his hometown of Hangzhou, where Alibaba's headquarters are located.</p>

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