The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Jack Ma plans to give up control of the company he founded.
Since China called off its $35 billion initial public offering nearly two years ago, there has been an important turn in the restructuring and power reshuffling of the company.
The group can't be reached for comment at the moment.
The world's largest public listing was halted by Chinese authorities in November of 2020 and subsequently ordered to undergo a "rectification" process that would subject the firm to the same financial regulations that govern traditional banks.
Like many other Chinese internet firms, it had been growing at a rapid rate until that point. A money market fund that soared to be the world's largest at one point, as well as a lucrative microlending business, were all created by the company.
It should return to its roots in payments, bring more transparency to transactions, obtain the necessary licenses for its credit businesses, establish a financial holding company, and ensure it holds sufficient capital.
There is no sign of the IPO plans being resumed. In June, the firm denied a report that Chinese regulators were considering reviving its IPO as they loosened their grip on the tech industry.
Ma spun out the e- commerce firm's CEO in 2011. It was said that the event happened when Yahoo and SoftBank were not aware. If the company had foreign shareholders, it wouldn't have been able to get a payments license to operate in China.
The profit-share agreement that the siblings started was for 37.5% of the company's pre-tax profits to be given to the Chinese giant. The partnership between the two has been beneficial, with the integration of the Alipay app into the retail and financial services offered by both companies.
Ma set up a partnership structure to ensure smooth succession over generations as he prepared for his gradual retreat from the company. He retired as chairman of the company after stepping down as CEO.
Ma is still the largest shareholder of the company. The founder control of the firm was shown in the prospectus for the initial public offering.
Ma intended to give up control of the company as it prepared to become a financial holding company, according to The Wall Street Journal. Regulators gave their approval to the change. The report said that Ma could be transferring his shares to another person.
The story is evolving.
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