- Alibaba Group Holding Limited's (NASDAQ:BABA) The South China Morning Post (SCMP) roped in Expedia Group, Inc's (NASDAQ:EXPE) Asian head, Catherine So, as its new CEO, Bloomberg reports.
- So succeeds Gary Liu, who will leave in July to oversee crypto-spinoff Artifacts Lab.
- The Harvard alumni So, who's also worked at Groupon, Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN), Star TV, and AOL Time Warner, will focus on growing the newspaper's global readership and commercial opportunities.
- Kuok Hui Kwong, daughter of former owner Robert Kuok, held the role between 2008 and 2012.
- Tammy Tam serves as the editor-in-chief of SCMP.
- In 2021, China proposed to bar private capital from news operations. The restrictions applicable to domestic investments followed Alibaba's controversial handling of a scandal involving one of its executives.
- Bauhinia Culture (Hong Kong) Holdings had expressed interest in the takeover of the English-language newspaper.
- Founded in 1903, SCMP was once one of the most profitable newspapers globally, boosted by a large classified job-advertisement section.
- Alibaba acquired SCMP from Robert Kuok in 2015 for $354 million.
- Lately, SCMP has faced flak for allegedly evading sensitive issues involving Beijing.
- Price Action: BABA shares traded lower by 0.34% at $104.87 on the last check Wednesday.
