China’s Ant Group announced on Saturday that it would change the shareholding structure of the fintech juggernaut so that it would no longer be under the authority of its billionaire founder Jack Ma.
After the adjustment is complete, “no shareholder, alone or collectively with other parties, will have control over Ant Group,” the business stated in a statement.
With his rags-to-riches tale and love of public show, Ma, one of China’s most well-known billionaires, once served as an inspiration for a generation of Chinese technology tycoons.
However, Beijing ruined Ant’s projected IPO in Hong Kong in 2020 as a result of his caustic remarks about governmental regulators, and the former English teacher has since disappeared from the public glare.
His company announced modifications to its ownership structure on Saturday that would make it impossible for “any shareholder, acting alone or in concert with other parties, to exercise control over Ant Group.”
