Alibaba Group picks Toby Xu as new chief financial officer

The outgoing CFO Maggie Wu will serve as an executive director of the board.

Alibaba Group has appointed Toby Xu, the company’s deputy chief financial officer, to succeed Maggie Wu as the chief financial officer (CFO) starting 1 April, the company announced in a news release.

Xu joined Alibaba from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in 2018 and was appointed Deputy Group CFO in July 2019. His responsibilities grew to include Alibaba’s strategic investments, in addition to financial management and operations.

He serves as a director of Sun Art Retail Group, Lianhua Supermarket and Red Star Macalline Group. He graduated from Fudan University in Shanghai, China, with a bachelor’s degree in Physics in 1996, and is a member of the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

The transition is the culmination of extensive preparation over many years and a part of Alibaba’s leadership succession planning, the company said.

Wu will continue as a partner and serve as an executive director on the Alibaba board.