CEO Ant Group suddenly resigned

The Bloomberg newspaper reported that Simon Hu – CEO of Ant Group had suddenly resigned. This move is considered by experts to be the latest disturbance in the giant financial empire of Jack Ma which is under pressure from the Chinese government.

It is known that Mr. Hu resigns for personal reasons will also leave the position of a member of the Board of Directors. Eric Jing, who is currently in the position of Ant Chairman, will become the new CEO and this decision will take effect immediately. An Ant spokesperson confirmed the information about Mr. Hu’s resignation with Bloomberg.

Mr. Hu, 51, joined Alibaba in 2005 after working at China Construction Bank – the second largest bank there. He is known to be associated with innovations that include using data analytics to provide escrow-free financial services for small businesses and helping Alibaba beat Amazon to build computing. Asia’s largest cloud.

Hu left Alibaba for Ant in November 2018 and assumed the position of CEO Ant in December 2019. He will focus on philanthropy activities at Ant and Alibaba following his resignation in Ant.

Jack Ma’s Ant Group is now at the center of an overhaul of China’s domestic tech giants. The company’s $ 35 billion IPO was suspended in December when the authorities said rules were needed to change with the company. Soon after, Ant and other rival firms were subjected to a series of new regulations aimed at reducing their influence on everything from digital payments to online lending and credit. use.

” The entry and departure of Mr. Hu are related to the IPO of Ant. Therefore, the departure this time has cast a shadow with the upcoming IPO roadmap of the company, ” said an analyst. identify.

Ant and the Chinese authorities have agreed to a restructuring plan that will turn Ant into a financial joint stock company, subject to the same regulations as a bank.

With so much work to be done and a few more regulations yet to be put in place, Ant’s IPO looks unlikely to be completed by 2022. The company’s value could drop 60% from $ 280 billion. last year.

Notably, Mr. Hu resigned just days after Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang pledged in Congress to expand the consideration of financial technology companies. The financial technology sector will be developed in a “conservative” direction and China aims to create a false “correction” mechanism or suspend innovative financial products as needed.

All three of the country’s largest financial institutions have set out important targets this year to revamp fintech companies. Ant rival Tencent Holdings appears to be the next target for Chinese officials.

Hu was previously responsible for helping Ant expand its financial operations into a digital life service. In a June 2020 interview, Mr. Hu said he wanted to accelerate Alipay’s expansion into a mall of everything from travel loans and services to ordering food.

The aforementioned plan took a hit after the Chinese authorities began to tighten its controls and demanded that the company operate like a bank.

Source: Bloomberg