Alibaba's Jack Ma Remains Amongst China's Top 5 Richest Despite Being Away From Business

Alibaba Group Holding Limited BABA co-founder and former high-flying billionaire continues to pull back from the internet empire he cofounded more than 20 years ago amid Beijing's sweeping crackdown on the country's internet titans, Forbes reports.
Ma, China's fifth richest person with a net worth of $20.6 billion, looks to relinquish control of fintech giant Ant Group three years after he stepped down from the helm of e-commerce behemoth Alibaba.
According to Alibaba's latest annual report, Ma will gradually reduce his direct and indirect economic interest in Ant to no more than 8.8%.
Also Read: Alibaba Comes Back Strong Against US Sanctions; To Power 20% Operations By In-House CPUs By 2025
Ma currently controls more than 50% of the Hangzhou-based firm through a related investment holding companies but may transfer some voting power to Ant executives, including CEO Eric Jing.
The move comes as Ant remakes itself into a financial holding company as urged by the country's central bank, which stepped up supervision of lending and digital payment apps like Ant's Alipay.
Ant's valuation has taken a massive hit which, by some estimates, has fallen over 70% to as low as $70 billion after China quashed Ant's $35 billion-plus IPO in 2020 at the eleventh hour, forcing the technology firm to restructure as a financial holding company regulated by China's central bank.
The company made a profit of 3.7 billion yuan ($555 million) in the March quarter, down 17% from a year earlier. Alibaba holds a one-third stake in Ant.
Ma has remained out of the public eye for the past two years.
Most recently, his 88-meter superyacht Zen was spotted in June docking off the Spanish island of Mallorca, followed by Ma's visit to a Netherlands university to learn about sustainable food production.
Ma quit the CEO job at Alibaba in 2013, exited as Chair in 2019, and held less than 5% of Alibaba's shares.
Price Action: BABA shares traded higher by 6.32% at $68.94 on the last check Thursday.

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