Corporate China | Weibo: China's internet old guard makes way for the new

These last few months have seen an interesting friendship chronicled online between three major Internet figures, with the top executives from leading web portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA), e-commerce leader Alibaba and online game operator Giant Interactive (NYSE: GA) spending increasing time together. The camaraderie between Alibaba founder and Chairman Jack Ma, Sina CEO and Chairman Charles Chao and Giant Chairman Shi Yuzhu has been chronicled on Sina's Weibo microblogging service, where the three have been seen engaging in an array of activities that often look more like hobbies than the businesses each has become famous for leading.
Chao also appears to be moving in a similar direction, taking over as Sina's chairman last year to complement the CEO title he has held since 2006. Earlier this year, the company then named two new co-presidents, and said a broader restructuring would see Chao focus on development of Sina's Weibo microblogging and mobile businesses. That has led some to speculate that Chao also may be slowly relinquishing many of his CEO responsibilities to make way for a new generation leaders.
This kind of transition to a second generation of Internet leaders looks like a good and welcome move, even though it could see the loss of some of the sector's most colorful figures as they are replaced by more traditional corporate characters. Still, I suspect that this trio of Internet leaders may never be able to truly leave behind the companies they founded or led for years, helping to build those firms from start-ups to their current status as major industry players.
The friendship between these three is understandable, as all were some of China's earliest Internet entrepreneurs and executives who have known each other for years from days when the industry was still in its infancy. The friendship is also interesting for its geographic diversity, since Chao is based in Beijing, Shi in Shanghai and Ma at Alibaba's base in Hangzhou.