Alibaba.com Limited (HKG:1688), Chinese e-Commerce giant, announced that Jacqueline Reses, EVP of people and development at Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) is the latest to join Alibaba’s Board of Directors. Yahoo is at liberty by its shareholding agreement to appoint one person to the Board at Alibaba, out of the total of four. The company sold its 40 percent stake of Alibaba for $7.6 billion, but still holds a 23 percent stake in the company.
However, indicating the instability within Yahoo, Reses is actually the third person to occupy the position in Alibaba in the space of a year. Reses will replace Tim Morse as CFO of Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) who left in September. The post was also previously held by Yahoo co-founder and former CEO, Jerry Yang.
Jack Ma, Alibaba’s chairman and Chief executive said “Today’s announcement underscores Alibaba’s strong relationship with Yahoo!”. “We are pleased to welcome such an experienced and respected executive, like Jackie, who brings a wealth of strategic insight and operating experience to the Alibaba board”.
Reses, executive vice president of people and development at Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) was hired by Yahoo Chief executive officer Marissa Meyer in September. Reses was Meyer’s first executive hire and was an essential part of the company’s rebuilding strategy. Reses has a background in Investment, having previously worked with Apax Partners and Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.(NYSE:GS).
Yahoo recited its commitment to Alibaba.com Limited (HKG:1688) after the company racked up a series of striking landmarks. This week, Alibaba crossed one trillion RMB ($157 billion) in gross sales. The number was considerably more than U.S. e- Commerce giants Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) combined.
The shopping Bonanza day, which was held on November 11th, recorded a record sale for Alibaba of $3.1 billion, up 367 percent over the previous year. The number was considerably higher than what U.S. retailers experienced. COMSCORE, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCOR) estimates that ‘Black Friday’ sales crossed $1 billion for the first time. This illustrates the size of market in China and supremacy enjoyed by Alibaba the market.
Reses is now one of four members of the board, which includes Alibaba founder and CEO, Jack Ma, SoftBank CEO and founder, Masayoshi Son and Alibaba.com Limited (HKG:1688) CFO Joe Tsai are the other two. The appointment further strengthens the bond between the Silicon Valley Internet giant and China’s largest e-Commerce company.
