Alibaba, once celebrated as a symbol of Chinese e-commerce success, has recently faced numerous challenges. In 2021, the company was fined a massive $2.8 billion for engaging in monopolistic practices that were deemed harmful to customers and merchants. To make matters worse, co-founder Jack Ma disappeared from the public eye, sparking concerns about the company’s future.
As Alibaba grappled with the changing e-commerce landscape, new competitors emerged, such as PDD and ByteDance. These companies proved adept at catering to cost-conscious consumers and adapting to new trends like “social commerce.” As a result, Alibaba’s market value plummeted from over $800 billion to below $170 billion in just two years.
In an effort to reverse its declining fortunes, Alibaba decided to split into six separate entities in March of the following year. These new entities included a logistics business, a cloud-computing division, an international e-commerce operation, a digital-services arm, and a media group. The core Alibaba entity remained focused on domestic retail operations primarily through its Taobao and Tmall marketplaces which generate the majority of the group’s revenue.
