Monitoring Desk
HANGZHOU: The billionaire founder of fintech giant Ant Group, Jack Ma, is to give up control of the Chinese fintech giant after a regulatory crackdown.
Ant Group said that no one would have overall control after the change.
The formerly flamboyant Jack Ma has seldom been seen publicly since criticizing the financial sector of China in 2020.
Following that condemnation, Ant Group’s planned stock market flotation was abruptly stopped.
Ant Group runs Alipay, China’s main online payment system, which has eclipsed credit cards, cash, and cheques.
Jack Ma, a former English teacher who founded e-commerce giant Alibaba, indirectly and directly, controls more than 50 percent of Ant Group.
Jack Ma to control 6% of Ant Group
However, according to an Ant Group statement, Mr Ma will control just over 6 percent after the changes in the governance structure.
In November 2020, Ant Group’s £26bn stock market flotation, which would have been the largest in the world, was cancelled at the last minute.
At the eleventh-hour Chinese authorities cited “major issues” over regulating the company.
Some analysts saw it as a bid by the Chinese government to humble a firm that had become too powerful and a leader who had become very outspoken.
The regulatory intervention came after Mr Jack Ma had told a financial conference that traditional commercial banks had a “pawn-shop mentality”.
Mr Jack Ma also lauded the merits of the digital banking system and emphasized that future lending decisions should be based on data, not collateral.
After the stock market flotation’s collapse, which was set to make Mr Jack Ma the wealthiest person in China, he disappeared for three months, prompting speculation about his whereabouts.
He eventually resurfaced, according to reports, but has been avoiding the spotlight since then.
Mr Ma controls Ant through his stake and acting with other shareholders.
But Ant said shareholders had agreed to no longer act together when using voting rights and would only vote independently.
