Chinese billionaire Jack Ma plans to cede control of Ant Group, a Reuters report quotes the Wall Street Journal.
Any Group had sufferd after a regulatory crackdown that scuppered its $37 billion IPO in 2020 and led to a forced restructuring.
Ma only owns a 10% stake in the financial technology behemoth but he exercises control over the company through related entities.
Hangzhou Yunbo, an investment vehicle for Ma, has control over two other entities that own a combined 50.5% stake of Ant.
Ma could cede control of Ant by transferring some of his voting power to Ant officials including Chief Executive Eric Jing.
Ant has informed regulators of Ma’s intention as it prepares to restructure into a financial holding company, according to the report said.
In April last year, it was reported that Ant was exploring options for Ma to divest his stake in Ant and give up control.
Ant operates the world’s largest and China’s ubiquitous mobile payment app Alipay, which has more than 1 billion users.
Reuters had reported last month that Ant and Alibaba were untangling their operations from each other and independently seeking new business.
