Beijing is seeking to shrink Jack Ma’s technological and financial empire and is likely to take a bigger stake in his business, according to Chinese officials and government advisers familiar with the matter, as organizers are focusing on the billionaire in a campaign to boost oversight over someone with growing influence. Technology field.
Under the restructuring roadmap drawn up by financial regulators in China this week, the financial technology giant Ant Group Co. Return to its roots as an online payment provider Similar to PayPal Holdings Inc. Its most profitable investments and loans will be curtailed.
Regulators, led by the central bank, have also ordered Ant to form a separate financial holding company subject to the type of capital requirements applied to banks. Officials and advisors say that could open the door for major state banks or other types of government-controlled entities to buy the company to help boost its capital base.
China National Pension Fund, China Development Bank, and China International Capital Corp., the largest state-owned investment bank in the country, are already investors in Ant.
Mr. Ma, the richest person in China, helped define the new economy of China through the two companies he founded – Ant and its e-commerce subsidiary Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Their businesses include payment services, online retail, cloud computing, wealth management and lending. separately , Alibaba is facing an antitrust investigation It could also lead to an overhaul of its business and liquidation of assets.
