Jonathan LuorLu Zhaoxi (Chinese: 陆兆禧; pinyin: Lù Zhàoxǐ; born 1969) is an honorary partner of Alibaba Group.[1] From 2013 to 2015, Lu served as Alibaba's CEO.[2] He was succeeded by Daniel Zhang.[3]
When Lu was in highschool, he wanted to be an architect. However, according to his statements, he forgot to complete a page on his Gaokao Exam and ended up getting a degree in hotel management from Guangzhou University. After graduation, he worked as a receptionist at a Holiday InninGuangzhou.[4]
According to his public statements, before being tapped to become CEO, Lu worked at Alibaba for 13 years, including stints with the business-to-business division (alibaba.com), Taobao.com, and Yun OS.[4]
In 2013, Jack Ma selected Lu as his successor as CEO. During his tenure as CEO, Lu oversaw Alibaba's $21.8 billion IPO.[5] At the end of his tenure, Alibaba was doing well, beating market expectations, but there were rumors that Jack Ma, Alibaba's founder, no longer trusted Lu's ability to run the company.[6]
In 2015, Lu was the first senior manager to be named an "Honorary Partner", effectively retiring.[1] As of 2017[update], Lu has a net worth of 1.1 billion US dollars. [7]
