Billionaire Jack Ma plans to cede control of Ant Group: Report

Chinese billionaire Jack Ma plans to cede control of Ant Group, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, after a regulatory crackdown that scuppered its $37 billion IPO in 2020 and led to a forced restructuring of the financial technology behemoth.
While Ma only owns a 10% stake in Ant, an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, he exercises control over the company through related entities, according to Ant’s IPO prospectus filed with the exchanges in 2020.
Hangzhou Yunbo, an investment vehicle for Ma, has control over two other entities that own a combined 50.5% stake of Ant, the prospectus showed.
The Journal said, citing unnamed sources, that Ma could cede control by transferring some of his voting power to Ant officials including Chief Executive Eric Jing.