The founder of JD.com abdicated. Starting from Jack Ma, why have all the big guys left the Internet?

On April 7, 2022, Liu Qiangdong resigned as CEO, and another Internet tycoon joined the "abdication trend." Faced with Brother Qiang's sudden resignation, netizens joked that "OKR actually forced the boss to leave." Of course, this was just a joke. But behind the "resignation" of big bosses, is it more accidental or inevitable? Starting from Jack Ma, why have all the big guys left the Internet? I think it’s due to Mingzhe’s protection under the anti-monopoly investigation

In addition to the development needs of the company itself, more speculations focus on anti-monopoly trends. In fact, this is not the first time that the founders of technology giants have "retired" in the antitrust environment.

Due to the "Microsoft-Netscape browser war" many years ago, the U.S. Department of Justice and the attorneys general of 20 states filed an antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft. Microsoft's internal emails even revealed that the company's plan was to "cut off Netscape's air supply." Therefore, in the eyes of the public, Microsoft at that time was implementing an anti-competitive, unfair, and extremely aggressive business strategy.

Gates's own arrogant attitude at the antitrust hearing also caused his image of fairness to plummet. Coupled with the "betrayal" of Gates' extramarital lover, Microsoft's unfair competition was exposed, causing Wall Street to sell off Microsoft stock. Under pressure, Gates stepped down as CEO. Following Gates's lesson, subsequent heads of giants such as Google and Amazon were "forced" to abdicate under antitrust pressure. The domestic situation is also the same as that abroad.

As we all know, Alibaba was previously investigated for alleged monopoly, and Ant Group’s listing plan was also suspended. Against the background of tightening anti-monopoly on Internet platforms, it is difficult to say that Liu Qiangdong’s resignation was not related to this aspect. Consider.

However, even if the bosses have resigned, they can actually still control any affairs in the company remotely. And once there is an opportunity, it is natural for the founder to return. Like the statement issued by Liu Qiangdong, "I have left my job as CEO and devoted more energy to long-term strategic design, major strategic decision-making and deployment, the cultivation of young leading talents and rural revitalization."