China’s Ant Group Chief Executive Officer Simon Hu has stepped down from his role, the company said, as the fintech giant is being pushed by regulators to revamp operations after its failed $37 billion initial public offering (IPO), according to Reuters report.
Hu, who was named CEO of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. in 2019, will be replaced by Executive Chairman Eric Jing, who will continue in his current role, he said in an internal memo seen by Reuters.
“Ant Group Board of Directors has accepted Mr. Simon Hu’s resignation request, due to personal reasons,” Ant said in a statement.
Hu’s exit from the company comes at a time when Ant Group is working on plans to shift to a financial holding company structure following intense regulatory pressure to subject them to rules and capital requirements similar to those for banks.
That pressure scuppered Ant’s IPO last year, which would have been the world’s largest, and has seen it formulate plans to shift to a financial holding company structure.
The change in management also comes days after some Ant staff expressed frustration on social media for not being able to sell the company shares they own after Chinese regulators abruptly halted the company’s market debut.
Jing told Ant employees that the company would review its staff incentive programmes and roll out some measures starting from April to help solve their financial problems, according to two people who have seen the messages.
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