Tim Culpan, Columnist

Even Alibaba Will Have a Favorite Child or Two

Some Baby Babas will be treated better than others as the e-commerce giant splits into six parts.

March 30, 2023 at 2:34 AM UTC

Tim Culpan is a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering technology in Asia. Previously, he was a technology reporter for Bloomberg News.

Sibling rivalry.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

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Two days after the surprise announcement that it will split into six units, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is still not giving much away about how this new business will operate. Yet its track record and early comments indicate that some of these Baby Babas will be more highly prized than others.

Only Chief Executive Officer Daniel Zhang and Chief Financial Officer Toby Xu spoke on a conference call Thursday, and it lasted just 30 minutes. That none of the new business heads joined to outline their vision was a disappointment.