Founder Jack Ma of the massive FinTech company Ant Group said in a statement that he will relinquish leadership of the company as part of a significant restructure.
The FinTech company is now under Ma’s control through his investment company Hangzhou Yunbo, which he founded along with Ant Group subsidiary Alibaba. He consented to split Hangzhou Yunbo into two distinct companies on January 7 and gave part of his stock to other Ant Group and Alibaba officials.
Ma’s Ant Group voting rights will drop from more than 50% to only 6.2% as a result of the adjustment.
The FinTech company will increase the size of its board, which presently only has eight members, by adding a fifth independent director.
No direct or indirect stakeholder will control the firm solely or jointly as a result of the reorganisation.
Due to Chinese government examination, Ant Group’s road to going public was put on hold in November 2020. Although the FinTech startup refused that option to Reuters, this new development may open the door for it to resurrect its IPO ambitions.
