Jack Ma celebrates Ant's 20th anniversary

Jack Ma Yun is reported to be in Hangzhou to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Ant Group, the Chinese fintech giant he founded.

The Chinese billionaire, who also founded e-commerce giants Alibaba, Taobao and Alipay, ceded control of Ant in 2023 following a regulatory crackdown.

Meanwhile, Ant president Cyril Han Xinyi will take on the role of chief executive officer from March 2025. He will succeed Eric Jing Xiandong as chief executive on March 1 and be responsible for all business segments and daily management.

Jing will remain company chairman and Han, who is also chief financial officer, will continue to report to him and the board of directors.

About four years ago, Chinese authorities abruptly halted Ant's initial public offering, which would have been the world's largest, and ordered it to overhaul its business model to comply with financial regulations.

Ant has reorganized its units and has been counting on breakthroughs in tech and AI to revitalize business after the clampdown that dented profit growth and limited its online lending activities.

STAFF REPORTER AND Bloomberg