Chinese billionaire Jack Ma cedes control of Alipay owner Ant Group. According to The Wall Street Journal, the Alibaba-affiliated company announced it would end agreements that had allowed Ma to hold a dominant position within Ant Group’s corporate governance structure. The outspoken entrepreneur previously owned more than 50 percent of the voting rights in Ant, though he didn’t sit on the company’s board of directors or be involved in day-to-day operations. Mas influenced Ant Group through a handful of investment vehicles that collectively owned a 50.5 percent stake in the fintech giant.
Going forward, Ant said Ma and nine other company executives and employees would have voting rights, which they agreed to use independently. Reuters estimates Ma will own 6.2 percent of Ant Group’s stock once the company implements the changes announced over the weekend.
In 2020, just ahead of Ant’s IPO expected to raise a record $34 billion, Ma drew the wrath of Chinese authorities after calling the country’s banks “state-owned pawnshops” during a speech in Shanghai “ had designated. Chinese regulators blocked the upcoming IPO and ordered Ant to downsize its business. Specifically, the company has been ordered to return to its roots as a payments provider. A year later, authorities fined Alibaba, Ma’s other company, $2.8 billion after an antitrust investigation into alleged monopoly practices by the company. Since then, Ma has avoided the public eye.
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