Jack Ma to give up control of Ant Group: report

Chinese billionaire Jack Ma plans to give up control of financial technology company Ant Group Co, the conglomerate he founded, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

The development comes amid Ant Group’s efforts to distance itself from Alibaba Group Holding following intensifying scrutiny from Chinese regulators.

Currently, Ma doesn’t hold an executive role at Ant or a seat on its board but controls 50.52% of its shares through a private entity, where he is a majority shareholder.


According to the Journal, Ma could relinquish his control by transferring some of his voting power to other Ant officials, including chief executive Eric Jing, after which they would collectively control the company.

The need to end Ma’s control at Ant gained more currency as the souring regulatory environment forced Ant and Alibaba to cut their ties. On Tuesday, seven Ant Group executives, including Jing stepped down from Alibaba Partnership, Alibaba's annual report revealed.

Ant said the move was “part of its continuous efforts to enhance corporate governance”.

The two companies also terminated their long-running commercial and data-sharing agreements that once gave Alibaba an edge.

This is not the first time Ma has contemplated relinquishing control. Previously, he did not execute that plan as he didn’t want to delay the company’s plans for an initial public offering (IPO).

However, the Chinese authorities halted Ant’s $34 billion-plus IPO in 2020 at the last moment forcing the technology firm to reorganise as a financial holding company regulated by China’s central bank.

As the overhaul progresses, Ant is taking the opportunity to reduce the company’s reliance on Ma, the founder of Alibaba.