Billionaire Jack Ma gives up control of Ant Group
Billionaire Jack Ma has given up control of Ant Group Co., China’s biggest fintech platform, which he helped create.
Ant adjusted its voting rights structure, according to an announcement on Saturday. The change involves giving 10 individuals — including the founder, management and employees — voting rights independently.
Ma, who doesn’t hold any titles at Ant, controls 50.52% of voting rights in the company.
Ant told regulators of Ma’s intention to cede control, adding that regulators didn’t demand the change but have given their blessing.
The Hangzhou-based company has been recasting itself to meet the demands of China’s watchdogs, who have pledged to curb the “reckless” push of technology firms into finance.
The Communist Party’s evolving stance toward the private sector has become one of the most closely watched developments in global markets in recent years, with some observers going as far as to call China’s sprawling internet sector uninvestable.
Ma, who controls Ant, has mostly disappeared from public view since giving a speech that criticized regulators on the eve of the scuttled Ant IPO. Many of his peers have relinquished their formal corporate roles and increased donations to charity to align with Xi’s vision of achieving “common prosperity.”
