Billionaire Jack Ma is said to give up control of the Chinese fintech giant Ant Group.
Ant Group’s planned stock market flotation was abruptly halted, after Mr. Ma continuously criticized China’s financial sector in 2020.
The giant group said that even after the momentous change, no one will have overall control of the company.
Ant Group runs Alipay, the main online payment system in China, which has eclipsed cash, cheques, and credit cards.
According to the statement released by Ant group, Jack Ma, who previously directly and indirectly controlled more than 50% of the company, will now control just over 6%.
In November 2020 Ant’s £26bn stock market flotation, which would have been the world’s largest, was cancelled at the last minute.
At the eleventh-hour Chinese authorities cited “major issues” overregulating the firm.
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“Jack Ma’s departure from Ant Financial, a company he founded, shows the determination of the Chinese leadership to reduce the influence of large private investors,”
“This trend will continue the erosion of the most productive parts of the Chinese economy.” said Andrew Collier, managing director of Orient Capital Research.
Ant Group is nearing the completion of a two-year restructuring which has been driven by regulators, and Chinese authorities are poised to impose a fine of more than $1bn on the firm, according to the Reuters news agency.
Mr. Ma disappeared for three months, after the collapse of the stock market flotation, which was set to make him the richest person in China.
Jack Ma is also the founder of Alibaba, a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in e-commerce, retail, Internet, and technology.
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