J. Michael Evans has served as the President of Alibaba Group since August 2015. As President, Michael is responsible for leading and executing Alibaba Group’s international strategy for globalizing the company and expanding its businesses outside of China. He has also served as a member of Alibaba’s Board of Directors, since Alibaba’s initial public offering in September 2014.
Prior to joining Alibaba, Michael spent 30 years in global finance. He served as Vice Chairman of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. from February 2008 until his retirement in December 2013. He served as Chairman of Asia operations at Goldman Sachs from 2004 to 2013 and was the Global Head of growth markets at Goldman Sachs from January 2011 to December 2013. He also co-chaired the Business Standards Committee of Goldman Sachs from 2010 to 2013. Michael joined Goldman Sachs in 1993, became a partner of the firm in 1994 and held various leadership positions within the firm’s securities business while based in New York and London, including Global Head of equity capital markets and Global Co-Head of the equities division, and Global Co-Head of the securities business.
In August 2014, Michael joined the Board of Barrick Gold Corporation. In December 2020, he joined the Board of Farfetch Limited as a non-executive Director. He is also a trustee of the Asia Society and a member of the Advisory Council for the Bendheim Center for Finance at Princeton University, and a board member of City Harvest.
Michael received his bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton University in 1981, a master’s degree in Finance in 1984 from Oxford and won an Olympic gold medal for his home country Canada as a member of the men’s eights rowing team in the Los Angeles 1984 Summer Olympics.