Chinese billionaire Jack Ma cedes control of financial giant Ant Group. The founder of the company and the largest Chinese trading platform Alibaba is withdrawing further from his online empire.
This is evident from a message from Ant Group on Saturday. The move comes as Chinese regulators cracked down on the fintech giant’s planned IPO two years ago and have kept the thriving tech sector in check ever since.
The departure of apparently disgraced founder Ma could revive plans for an IPO of Ant Group. However, Chinese stock markets require a waiting period of two to three years after such corporate governance changes. Hong Kong, on the other hand, only has one year.
Ant Group is behind the Chinese mobile payment system Alipay with more than a billion users. The planned 2020 IPO was supposed to be the largest in the world at $35 billion and fell through at the last minute because of regulatory authorities.
Since then, the 58-year-old multi-billionaire has largely retreated from the public eye, press reports say he lived longer in Japan last year and was accidentally spotted in Thailand last week. (sda/dpa)
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
