Alibaba co-founder and CEO Jack Ma will no longer control the Chinese fintech giant Ant Group. Fintech giant’s shareholders voted to implement a series of adjustments that will see the billionaire’s departure from Ant Group, Reuters reported.
Chinese regulators had stopped Ant Group’s planned $37 billion IPO in Hong Kong in 2020.
Jack Ma controlled 53.46% of Ant Group’s shares
Ant Group said in a statement that it is adjusting its ownership structure in a way so that “no shareholder, alone or jointly with other parties, will have control over Ant Group.”
Previously, Jack Ma indirectly was responsible for the company’s nearly 54% shares. With new structure adjustments, the Chinese billioanire will only hold around 6.2% of the voting rights in the company. Chinese regulators have not been kind to Alibaba founder since his comments about government regulation policies. Earlier, Alibaba was hit with a $2.75 billion fine for alleged unfair practices.
Will Ant Group continue to invest in Metaverse?
China-based companies Alibaba and Ant Group both have invested in metaverse at some capacity. Alibaba invested $60 million in Chinese augmented reality glasses maker Nreal last year in May. Ant Group remained bullish on metaverse and virtual reality throughout the year. However, with Jack Ma’s exit as leading shareholder in the firm, it will be interesting to see how the fintech giant will approach metaverse.
Where is Jack Ma?
In 2021, Alibaba founder completely disappeared from public view after Ant Group’s IPO was torched by Chinese regulators and his other businesses were also scrutinized. There have been several reports as to where Jack Ma has been residing all these months. Reuters reported that the Chinese billionaire was spotted socializing in Bangkok this week.
Jack Ma has not made any public comments since he slammed Chinese financial regulators back in 2022 in Shanghai. .
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