The charismatic founder of Alibaba will cede control of Ant Group, the financial subsidiary of Alibaba, which he owned at 50.52% so far. This is the last step in a withdrawal for the Chinese tech and innovation icon, who fell out of favor at the end of 2019. After more than two years of campaigning to regulate web platforms, the authorities seem to want to breathe new life into this sector which employs many young graduates.
The sale of the shares of Jack Ma, who has become a sulphurous figure, could allow Alibaba and Ant Group to turn the page on a difficult period marked by the cancellation, by the authorities, of the IPO of Ant Group , at the end of 2020, and by a record fine of 18 billion yuan (2.48 billion euros at the time), imposed on Alibaba for abuse of a dominant position.
In the morning of Monday, January 9, Chairman of the Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, Guo Shuqing, announced that the campaign to ” correction “ of fourteen Web platforms was “essentially complete, with a few minor issues to be resolved”. Investors welcomed these two announcements with enthusiasm: Alibaba’s stock on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange gained 7.8% on Monday morning, while the Hang Seng Tech Index, which brings together technology stocks in Hong Kong, rose 3%.
Rules of caution
The company announced on Saturday January 7 in a press release that it was adjusting its ownership structure, so that“no shareholder, alone or jointly with other parties, has control of Ant Group”. Jack Ma, who quit executive management of Alibaba in 2018, still controlled “indirectly” 53.46% of the shares, according to the press release. He will only hold 6.2% of the voting rights and will share control of the company with nine other people.
Ant Group had announced a major restructuring of its activities in April 2022, the main element of which was the establishment of a holding company to bring together its credit activities, which would be registered as a finance company and subject to banking sector regulations. In 2020, the regulator criticized Ant for providing financial services while pretending to be a technology company and not a bank, thus evading the rules of prudence imposed on the sector.
Ant has established itself as a major player, to the point of owning, in 2017, the first monetary fund in the world
Ant Group was created in 2011 to bring together the financial activities of Alibaba. The company is known to the general public through the Alipay application: a simple payment tool created for the online sales platform Taobao, in 2003, the app has become an ubiquitous electronic wallet in China, which has diversified to offer investments, loans and insurance, carried out directly, and hundreds of other partner services (ordering meals, booking taxis, travel, bill payment, etc.).
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