The founder of Alibaba's (HKG:9988) enterprise communications software DingTalk, Chen Hang, will return to the e-commerce giant to become its chief executive officer, the South China Morning Post reported Tuesday, citing a company representative.

Chen's return comes as Alibaba will purchase a stake in startup HHO, which Chen founded following his first stint at Alibaba, according to a separate report by Yicai Global.

Chen first left Alibaba in 2021 to focus on founding his own startup after DingTalk was restructured under Alibaba Cloud Intelligence, Yicai said.

Former DingTalk CEO Ye Jun, whom Chen will succeed, will transition to a new role in the tech giant, the SCMP reported.

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