Chinese billionaire and Alibaba founder Jack Ma will step down from control of fintech giant Ant Group as part of recent changes to the company’s corporate structure.
Ant Group has officially announced that Ma has agreed to relinquish control of Ant Group as part of the optimization and restructuring of the company’s corporate governance.
Before the change, Ma was the controlling person at Ant, exercising control over the company through related entities, in addition to his 10% stake in Ant.
Once the restructuring process is complete, no shareholder will have control of Ant, as reported by the company in a statement. Major shareholders such as Hangzhou Junhan and Hangzhou Junao will independently exercise their voting rights in Ant, the company said.
“The adjustment will not imply any change in the economic interests of any of the Ant Group shareholders and their beneficiaries,” Ant added.
According to some analysts, Ant’s restructuring and Ma’s handing over of the company could positively impact the firm in the long run.
Wang Pengbo, a financial analyst at BoTong Analysys, believes the company’s new structure, with more diversified voting rights, is more stable. “It paves the way for it to go public in the future, although it is highly unlikely that it will go public in the immediate future,” he said.
On the news that Ma is giving up control of Ant, shares of Alibaba, an affiliate of Ant, have skyrocketed. Alibaba shares have risen nearly 10% on the New York Stock Exchange since Ant made the announcement, according to data from TradingView.
As previously reported, Ant attempted to carry out the largest initial public offering (IPO) in 2020, planning to raise about $30 billion. The Chinese government ultimately opted to halt the Ant IPO, as local authorities wanted to assert their power over private companies.
Following the suspension of the IPO, Ant has continued to actively explore the benefits of blockchain and digital assets. Owner of the world’s largest digital payment platform, Alipay, Ant continued to participate in the development of China’s national digital currency after initiating cooperation with the People’s Bank of China in 2017.
The company is also among the Chinese tech giants that have created blockchain alliances in recent years for related operations. The company has been actively developing its blockchain business, AntChain, introducing new products in 2022.
Despite its apparent interest in blockchain and related technologies, Ant has still moved to comply with China’s negative stance on cryptocurrencies.. As Cointelegraph reported in March 2022, Ant Group was among the companies placing some restrictions on their non-fungible token platforms, fearing a government crackdown.
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