Zhang Yaqin, president of new business at Baidu, announced today that he plans to retire in six months to spend more time with his family.
In his WeChat “moments” today, Zhang posted a letter saying that the retirement plan was “a very tough decision”. He thanked Baidu co-founder and CEO Robin Li for giving him many opportunities in the past five years.
In an internal letter sent to Baidu employees the same day, Li said the company was launching a retirement scheme for its executives and confirmed that Zhang Yaqin, who joined Baidu in September 2014 to spearhead its intelligent driving and emerging businesses operation, would be leaving the company in October.
Prior to joining Baidu, Zhang was the chairman of Microsoft Asia-Pacific R&D Group and led the US tech giant’s research and development efforts in the Asia-Pacific region.