(May 29): Jessica Liu, president of Lazada Group, is leaving the Southeast Asian online shopping unit of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Lazada employees were told that Liu is leaving to spend more time with her family, the people said, asking not to be identified. Liu and representatives for Singapore-based Lazada didn’t immediately reply to requests for comment.
Liu is a key member of Lazada’s leadership team and also served as head of LazMall, the fast-growing marketplace for international and local brands within the Lazada platform. Earlier this year, she took on an additional role of chief executive officer of Thailand, becoming the company’s first female country head.
Lazada has gone through frequent management shuffles since it was acquired by Alibaba.
Liu joined Lazada in 2020 from Alibaba, where she was general manager of Tmall Fashion and Luxury. Under her leadership, Tmall became China’s largest fashion business-to-consumer online platform. Nine-year-old Lazada operates in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
In February, KrAsia reported that Alibaba denied speculation Liu was leaving Lazada to join the e-commerce division of short-video app Douyin, owned by ByteDance Ltd.
