HONG KONG -- Both within China and overseas, Daniel Zhang Yong has made a name for himself in the business world as the organizer of Alibaba Group Holding's blockbuster annual sales event, the Nov. 11 Singles' Day shopping festival that now dwarfs the combined receipts of Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales in the U.S.
Zhang is now set for a much higher public profile with the announcement by Alibaba founder Jack Ma Yun that he will hand over the chairmanship of the company to Zhang in a year's time. Ma already yielded the role of chief executive in 2013, but has remained Alibaba's public face until now.
