The founder and former boss of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, Jack Ma, will cede control of fintech company Ant Group as part of a restructuring, the company announced on Saturday (January 7th).
"
No shareholder, alone or jointly with other parties, will have control of
Ant Group
" after the adjustment is completed, the company said in a statement.
“
This adjustment is being implemented to further strengthen the stability of our corporate structure and the sustainability of our long-term development.
The statement exposed the company's previous complex structure, which showed that Jack Ma "
indirectly
" controlled 53.46% of Ant Group's shares.
"
As a result, Mr. Jack Ma (was) considered to be the controlling person of Ant Group prior to the adjustment,
" according to the group's statement.
The communist regime has multiplied the blows
Since the end of 2020, the communist regime has multiplied the blows against large companies in the technology sector, prevented from raising money internationally or fined for abuse of a dominant position.
Read alsoAnt Group: a coup de theater that sounds like a beating of billionaire Jack Ma by Beijing
In 2020, they blocked at the last minute the listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange of Ant Group, the payment subsidiary of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.
Beijing also fined Alibaba a record $2.75 billion over alleged unfair practices.
This week, authorities announced that Ant Group had obtained approval to raise 10.5 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) for its consumer credit arm, another sign that authorities may be loosening their grip on the company.