Chinese billionaire and Alibaba founder, Jack Ma, will no longer control the fintech giant Ant Group as part of recent changes to the company’s corporate structure.
In an official statement Ant Group announced that Ma had agreed to give up control of Ant Group, an affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba group Holding Ltd, as part of the company’s continued corporate governance restructuring.
Ma previously exercised control over the company through related entities in addition to his 10% stake in the company.
According to the statement, Ma and nine of its other major shareholders had agreed to no longer act in concert when exercising their voting rights, and would only vote independently once the restructuring process is complete.
Ant also said it would add a fifth independent director to its board so that independent directors will comprise a majority of the company’s board, which currently has eight board directors.
“The adjustment will not result in any change to the economic interests of any shareholders of Ant Group and their beneficiaries,” the company said.
The move is the latest big development for the financial technology giant after a regulatory crackdown prevented Ant’s $37bln IPO in late 2020 and led to a forced restructuring of the company. Both Alibaba and Ant were founded by Ma and have been headquartered in Hangzhou since their inceptions.
