After Sharp Criticism of Authorities' Regulations, Focused Crackdown
IPO Process Virtually Halted Amid Ownership Changes
[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Kim Hyun-jung] Jack Ma, the founder of Chinese tech giant Alibaba, has lost control over Ant Group, the country's largest fintech (financial technology) company.
According to local media such as Caixin on the 8th, Ant Group announced the results of a voting rights adjustment on the 7th through a notice on its website, which centered on Jack Ma losing control. Previously, voting rights were exercised jointly within Ant Group, but through this adjustment, 10 individuals including the group's management, employee representatives, and Jack Ma will now exercise voting rights independently.
As a result, Jack Ma's voting rights have decreased from 53.46% to only 6.2%. Until now, Jack Ma personally held only 10% of Ant Group's shares, but he effectively controlled the group through voting rights held via related entities. The group explained, "This adjustment is to better adapt to a modern governance system and to promote alignment between shareholder voting rights and economic benefits," adding, "We plan to continue introducing an outside director system at the board level."
Ant Group, recognized as a global fintech company, is a subsidiary of Alibaba Group founded by Jack Ma and is well known as the operator of Alipay, a local electronic payment platform in China. Since Jack Ma publicly criticized the authorities in October 2020, saying "fintech regulations are overly conservative" and "Chinese banks operate like pawnshops," the group has been under intense regulatory scrutiny. Alibaba Group was also fined a record 18 billion yuan (approximately 3.3 trillion KRW) for antitrust issues.
Local media predict that the voting rights adjustment will further delay Ant Group's listing. Ant Group originally planned to raise over $35 billion (about 44 trillion KRW) through a simultaneous listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong in 2020, but the listing was completely withdrawn following Jack Ma's critical remarks that year. Caixin noted, "Market participants believe this adjustment will further delay Ant Group's listing within the year," adding, "According to relevant regulations, if the actual controller of a company changes, there is a three-year waiting period before listing on China's mainland A-shares." Ant Group also stated, "We will focus on business optimization and have no plans for an initial public offering."
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