Ant Group founder Jack Ma will relinquish his control over the fintech company from China. The change was announced after shareholders agreed to reshape the voting structure at the company.
After this change, Ant Group said there would be no single person with full control over the company. Ma currently holds 50% control of Ant Group, but after the restructuring will be the remaining 6.2%.
Jack Ma controls the Ant Group through the shares he holds and often acts with other shareholders. But Ant Group said shareholders agreed to no longer act together when exercising their voting rights, and would only vote independently.
The shareholder structure will also change, but Ant Group emphasizes that the economic interests of shareholders will not change.
Ant Group itself is a fintech giant that operates the Alipay online payment system. This system has more than 1 billion users and has outperformed conventional systems such as cash, checks and credit cards.
Ma and Ant Group have been in the spotlight of the Chinese government since November 2020. Ma even went into hiding for several months after criticizing China's banking system while speaking at a finance conference.
Not long after, Ant Group's plans for an IPO were then cancelled. The USD 37 billion IPO would actually be the largest in the world and make Ma the richest person in China.
The cancellations were sudden and Chinese authorities said there were major problems regulating the company. Some analysts see this as an attempt by the Chinese government to undermine an already too powerful company and too outspoken leader.
After disappearing for several months which led to speculation about his whereabouts, Jack Ma is back in public but still avoids the camera spotlight.
Most recently, Jack Ma was seen in Thailand with Supakit Chearavanont, Chairman of the Board of Charoen Pokphand Group which is the largest agribusiness group in Thailand. Previously, he lived in Japan for a long time.