Donna Li leaving RenRen to pursue personal goals

Li told Campaign Asia-Pacific that she intends to spend time in Paris and Italy studying art. She will also be studying political science in London and later hopes to 'update' her MBA from the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) with courses at Harvard University in the United States.

It is understood that Li's role will be absorbed by the marketing department's team leaders, whom she has been grooming to succeed her over the past year. 

"Ever since I decided it was time to move on, I've been working hard to make myself 'invisible' so when I decided to leave it would be seamless," she said. 

Li joined RenRen in 2009 from Taobao where she was director of its e-business total solutions. She was previously with parent company Alibaba Group as industry marketing director, which she joined in 2008 after leaving her role with Yahoo as director of media planning.