Jack Ma Plans to Give Up Control of Ant, Dow Jones Says

Jack Ma plans to give up control of the company in order to appease regulators, according to a report.

With Ma giving up control, a revival of Ant's initial public offering could be put back another year or more, according to a report.

Ma is the majority shareholder in the company with 50.52% of voting rights. The people said that he could give some of his voting power to other officials.

The people said that regulators didn't demand the change but gave their blessing.

The head of Asian research at United First Partners said that Jack stepping down would remove a significant key man risk. It won't make a difference as the weak markets will mean that Ant is not in a rush to be listed.

The American depository receipts of the Chinese company erased initial gains to trade 3% lower in pre- market trading. The Hong Kong shares fell to their lowest level in more than two months.

The crushing of Ant's $35 billion IPO in November 2020 sent shock waves across the financial world. Some of China's fastest-growing companies were caught up in the beginning of a broader sweep.

China's watchdogs have pledged to curb the " reckless " push of technology firms into finance.

The Communist Party's evolving stance towards the private sector has become one of the most closely watched developments in global markets in recent years, with some observers calling China's internet sector un investable.

Since giving a speech that regulators criticized, Ma has mostly disappeared from public view. Many of his peers have given up their formal corporate roles and increased their donations to charity in order to align with the vision of the president.

What would it take for Jack Ma to make a sequel to his movie?