阿里巴巴合伙人制度(英文版)

阿里巴巴合伙人制度（英文版）IntroductionSinceourfoundersfirstgatheredinJackMa'sapartmentin1999,theyandourmanagementhaveactedinthespiritofpartnership.Weviewourcultureasfundamentaltooursuccessandourabilitytoserveourcustomers,developouremployeesanddeliverlong-termvaluetoourshareholders.InJuly2010,inordertopreservethisspiritofpartnershipandtoensurethesustainabilityofour

mission,vision

and

values,wedecidedtoformalizeourpartnershipasLakesidePartners,namedaftertheLakesideGardensresidentialcommunitywhereJackMaandourotherfoundersstartedourcompany.WerefertothepartnershipastheAlibabaPartnership.Webelievethatourpartnershipapproachhashelpedusbettermanageourbusiness,withthepeernatureofthepartnershipenablingseniormanagerstocollaborateandoverridebureaucracyandhierarchy.TheAlibabaPartnershipcurrentlyhas34memberscomprisedof26membersofourmanagement,sevenmembersofmanagementofAntFinancialServicesandonememberofmanagementofCainiaoNetwork.ThenumberofpartnersinAlibabaPartnershipisnotfixedandmaychangefromtimetotimeduetotheelectionofnewpartners,theretirementofpartnersandthedepartureofpartnersforotherreasons.Ourpartnershipisadynamicbodythatrejuvenatesitselfthroughadmissionofnewpartnerseachyear,whichwebelieveenhancesourexcellence,innovationandsustainability.Unlikedual-classownershipstructuresthatemployahigh-voteclassofsharestoconcentratecontrolinafewfounders,ourapproachisdesignedtoembodythevisionofalargegroupofmanagementpartners.Thisstructureisoursolutionforpreservingthecultureshapedbyourfounderswhileatthesametimeaccountingforthefactthatfounderswillinevitablyretirefromthecompany.Consistentwithourpartnershipapproach,allpartnershipvotesaremadeonaone-partner-one-votebasis.Thepartnershipisgovernedbyapartnershipagreementandoperatesunderprinciples,policiesandproceduresthathaveevolvedwithourbusinessandarefurtherdescribedbelow.NominationandElectionofPartnersTheAlibabaPartnershipelectsnewpartnersannuallyafteranominationprocesswherebyexistingpartnersproposecandidatestothepartnershipcommittee.Thepartnershipcommitteereviewsthenominationsanddetermineswhetherthenominationofacandidatewillbeproposedtotheentirepartnershipforelection.Electionofnewpartnersrequirestheapprovalofatleast75%ofallofthepartners.Tobeeligibleforelection,apartnercandidatemusthavedemonstratedthefollowingattributes:ahighstandardofpersonalcharacterandintegrity;continuedservicewithAlibabaGroup,ouraffiliatesand/orcertaincompanieswithwhichwehaveasignificantrelationshipsuchasAntFinancialServicesfornotlessthanfiveyears;atrackrecordofcontributiontothebusinessofAlibabaGroup;andbeinga"culturecarrier"whoshowsaconsistentcommitmentto,andtraitsandactionsconsonantwith,our

mission,vision

and

values.

WebelievethecriteriaandprocesstheAlibabaPartnershipapplicabletotheelectionofnewpartners,asdescribedabove,promoteaccountabilityamongthepartnersaswellastoourcustomers,employeesandshareholders.Inordertoaligntheinterestsofpartnerswiththeinterestsofourshareholders,werequirethateachpartnermaintainameaningfullevelofequityinterestsinourcompanyduringsuchindividual'stenureasapartner.Sinceapartnernomineemusthavebeenouremployeeoranemployeeofoneofourrelatedcompaniesoraffiliatesforatleastfiveyears,asofthetimeheorshebecomesapartner,heorshewilltypicallyalreadyownorhavebeenawardedapersonallymeaningfullevelofequityinterestinourcompanythroughourequityincentiveandsharepurchaseplans.DutiesofPartnersThemaindutyofpartnersintheircapacityaspartnersistoembodyandpromoteour

mission,vision

and

values.Weexpectpartnerstobeevangelistsforour

mission,vision

and

values,bothwithinourorganizationandexternallytocustomers,businesspartnersandotherparticipantsinourecosystem.PartnershipCommitteeThepartnershipcommitteemustconsistofatleastfivepartnersandiscurrentlycomprisedofJackMa,Joe

Tsai,JonathanLu,LucyPengandMingZeng.Thepartnershipcommitteeisresponsiblefor,amongothers,administeringpartnerelections.Partnershipcommitteemembersserveforatermofthreeyearsandmayservemultipleterms.Electionsofpartnershipcommitteemembersareheldonceeverythreeyears.Priortoeachelection,thepartnershipcommitteewillnominateanumberofpartnersequaltothenumberofpartnershipcommitteemembersthatwillserveinthenextpartnershipcommitteetermplusthreeadditionalnominees.Eachpartnervotesforanumberofnomineesequaltothenumberofpartnershipcommitteemembersthatwillserveinthenextpartnershipcommitteetermandallexceptthethreenomineeswhoreceivetheleastvotesfromthepartnersareelectedtothepartnershipcommittee.PartnershipCommitteeTheAlibabaPartnership’srighttonominateorappointuptoasimplemajorityofourdirectorsisconditionedontheAlibabaPartnershipbeinggovernedbythepartnershipagreementineffectasofthecompletionofourinitialpublicofferinginSeptember2014,orasmaybeamendedinaccordancewithitstermsfromtimetotime.Anyamendmenttotheprovisionsofthepartnershipagreementrelatingtothepurposeofthepartnership,ortothemannerinwhichtheAlibabaPartnershipexercisesitsrighttonominateasimplemajorityofourdirectors,willbesubjecttotheapprovalofthemajorityofourdirectorswhoarenotnomineesorappointeesoftheAlibabaPartnershipandare“independentdirectors”withinthemeaningofSection303AoftheNewYorkStockExchangeListedCompanyManual.Theprovisionsrelatingtonominationrightsandproceduresdescribedaboveareincorporatedinourarticlesofassociation.Pursuanttoourarticlesofassociation,theAlibabaPartnership’snominationrightsandrelatedprovisionsofourarticlesofassociationmayonlybechangeduponthevoteofshareholdersrepresenting95%ofthevotespresentinpersonorbyproxyatageneralmeetingofshareholders.Ourboardofdirectorscurrentlyconsistsofelevenmembers,andfiveofthesedirectorsareAlibabaPartnershipnominees.IfatanytimeourboardofdirectorsconsistsoflessthanasimplemajorityofdirectorsnominatedorappointedbytheAlibabaPartnershipforanyreason—includingbecausetheAlibabaPartnershiphadpreviouslynotexerciseditsrighttonominateorappointasimplemajorityofourboardofdirectors—theAlibabaPartnershipwillbeentitled(initssolediscretionandwithouttheneedforanyadditionalshareholderapproval)tonominateorappointsuchnumberofadditionaldirectorsasnecessarytoensurethatthedirectorsnominatedorappointedbytheAlibabaPartnershipcompriseasimplemajorityofourboardofdirectors.Accordingly,theAlibabaPartnershipisentitledtonominateorappointtwoadditionaldirectorstoourboard,whichwouldincreasethetotalnumberofdirectorstothirteen.WehaveenteredintoavotingagreementpursuanttowhichbothSoftBankandYahoowillagreetovotetheirsharesinfavoroftheAlibabaPartnershipdirectornomineesateachannualgeneralshareholdersmeetingsolongasSoftBankownsatleast15%ofouroutstandingordinaryshares.Accordingly,forsolongasSoftBankandYahooremainsubstantialshareholders,weexpecttheAlibabaPartnershipnomineeswillreceiveamajorityofvotescastatanymeetingfortheelectionofdirectorsandwillbeelectedasdirectors.RetirementandRemovalofPartnersPartnersmayelecttoretirefromthepartnershipatanytime.Allpartnersexceptcontinuitypartnersarerequiredtoretireuponreachingtheageofsixtyoruponterminationoftheirqualifyingemployment.Continuitypartnersmayremainpartnersuntiltheyelecttoretirefromthepartnership,dieorareincapacitatedorareremovedaspartners.Eithertwoorthreepartnersmaybedesignatedascontinuitypartnersatatime,withJackMaandJoeTsaiservingastheinitialcontinuitypartners.Continuitypartnersareeitherdesignatedbyaretiringcontinuitypartnerorbytheservingcontinuitypartners.Anypartner,includingcontinuitypartners,mayberemoveduponthevoteofasimplemajorityofallpartnerspresentataduly-calledmeetingofpartnersforviolationsofcertainstandardssetforthinthepartnershipagreement,includingfailuretoactivelypromoteour

mission,vision

and

values,fraud,grossmisconductorgrossnegligence.Aswithotherpartners,continuitypartnersmustmaintaintheshareholdinglevelsrequiredbyusofallpartnersasdescribedbelow.Partnerswhoretirefromthepartnershipuponmeetingcertainageandservicerequirementsmaybedesignatedashonorarypartnersbythepartnershipcommittee.Honorarypartnersmaynotactaspartners,butmaybeentitledtoallocationsfromthedeferredportionoftheannualcashbonuspooldescribedbelowasretirementpensionpayments.Continuitypartnerswillnotbeeligibletoreceiveallocationsfromtheannualcashbonuspooliftheyceasetobeouremployeeseveniftheyremainpartners,butmaybeentitledtoreceiveallocationsfromthedeferredbonuspooliftheyarehonorarypartners.RestrictiveProvisionsUnderourarticlesofassociation,inconnectionwithanychangeofcontrol,mergerorsaleofourcompany,thepartnersandotherholdersofourordinarysharesshallreceivethesameconsiderationwithrespecttotheirordinarysharesinconnectionwithanysuchtransaction.Inaddition,ourarticlesofassociationprovidethattheAlibabaPartnershipmaynottransferorotherwisedelegateorgiveaproxytoanythirdpartywithrespecttoitsrighttonominatedirectors,althoughitmayelectnottoexerciseitsrightsinfull.Inaddition,asnotedabove,ourarticlesofassociationalsoprovidethattheamendmentofcertainprovisionsoftheAlibabaPartnershipagreementrelatingtothepurposeofthepartnershiporthemannerinwhichthepartnershipexercisesitsrightstonominateorappointamajorityofourboardofdirectorswillrequiretheapprovalofamajorityofdirectorswhoarenotappointeesoftheAlibabaPartnershipandare“independentdirectors”withinthemeaningofSection303AoftheNewYorkStockExchangeListedCompanyManual.AmendmentofAlibabaPartnershipAgreementPursuanttothepartnershipagreement,amendmentofthepartnershipagreementrequirestheapprovalof75%ofthepartnersinattendanceatameetingofthepartnersatwhichnotlessthan75%ofallthepartnersareinattendance,exceptthatthegeneralpartnermayeffectcertainadministrativeamendments.Inaddition,certainamendmentsrelatingtothepurposesoftheAlibabaPartnershiporthemannerinwhichitexercisesitsnominationrightswithrespecttoourdirectorsrequiretheapprovalofamajorityofourindependent