Photo: PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images
For: The opinion Updated 07 Jan 2023, 21:40 pm EST
After more than two years of disappearing from the public scene, Chinese billionaire Jack Ma returned to the headlines after relinquish control of Ant Groupa techno-financial company, under alleged pressure from the Chinese government.
According to a statement from Ant Group released this Saturday, a readjustment in the structure of voting rights was decided, diluting the power of founder Jack Ma to make the company more “transparent and diversified”.
“The main result of the Adjustment will be to change the exercise of the voting rights of the principal shareholders of Ant Group, from Mr. Jack Ma exercising the voting rights jointly with persons acting in concert, to each of the ten people (including the founder, our management representative and employees) exercise their voting rights independently”, Ant Group reported in the statement.
The Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post points out that this decision would be a crucial step what is considered necessary to get its long-awaited initial public offering back on track (IPO), which was stopped by the Chinese government in 2020.
With the restructuring, Ma ends shareholder agreements with Ant Chairman Eric Jing, former CEO Simon Hu and Alibaba Group Holding veteran Jiang Fang, who gave Ma 53.46% of the voting power in the fintech company. After adjustment, will have 6.2% of voting rights.
“No shareholder, alone or jointly with another shareholder, will have power to control the outcome of Ant Group general meetings. No shareholder shall have the power to appoint a majority of the members of Ant Group’s board of directors. Therefore, no shareholder, alone or jointly with other parties, will have control over Ant Group,” the statement read.
Ant Group is alipay owner, The world’s largest digital payment platform, with hundreds of millions of monthly users in China and abroad.
Ma’s problems with the Chinese government
In 2020 Ant Group, led by Ma, will prepares for its IPO in Hong Kongbut, 48 hours before doing so, that action was stopped by the Chinese government.
IPO in Hong Kong It was estimated at $34 billion dollars. And at that time it was a record.
It is speculated that the brake on the IPO by Beijing was due to the scathing comments about government regulators what a jack ma voicing days before.
In a speech at a summit in Shanghai, the tycoon pointed out that the banks operated with the mentality of a “pawnshop” and accused financial gatekeepers of stifling growth.
Until before the incident, Ma was one of the most renowned businessmen in China.with an atypical career and a charismatic personality.
After the confrontation with the Chinese government, the former English teacher also withdrew from the public scene for more than two years, until yesterday that reappeared in a restaurant in Thailand hours before Ant Group said it would relinquish control of the company.
Jay Fai restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand, posted a photo of Ma on Instagram on Friday, where it seems that he just visited the premises.
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