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What's going on?
Alibaba, the Chinese ecommerce giant, has appointed ex Goldman Sachs banker Michael Evans as president. Evans, who will be the groups senior foreign executive, will lead Alibabas globalization strategy.What does this mean?
Before his election, Michael Evans served as head of global growth markets and chairman of Asia at Goldman, one of the most prestigious investmant banks. He is now tasked with bringing more foreign brands on to Alibabas platform, while diminishing their worry about counterfeit goods on the site.Why should I care?
1. Several global brands such as Sephora (part of LVMH) and Kering have been unimpressed with Alibaba, with the former choosing Alibaba rival JD.com to host its first online Chinese store and the latter suing Alibaba for being solicit in the sale of fake handbags. 2. Alibabas current stock price is heading down towards its IPO price of $68 from a high of $119 in November. With the election of Evans, this move should provide some confidence for investors and improve long term outlook for the company.Originally posted as part of the Finimize daily email.
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