Jack Ma Removes Himself as Owner of Alibaba Business Licenses
The change was made to reduce the administrative burden on the Chinese tycoon, who earlier announced he would step down as executive chairman
By Shan Li
Sept. 30, 2018 11:47 p.m. ET
BEIJING—Chinese e-commerce tycoon Jack Ma has surrendered his ownership of entities that hold Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s BABA -0.94% business licenses in China.
Mr. Ma, 54, relinquished his ownership in Alibaba’s main “variable interest entities,” Alibaba confirmed Monday. Those entities typically allow Chinese technology companies to take investments from overseas entities. The news was earlier reported by the Financial Times.
The change was made to reduce the administrative burden on Mr. Ma and was disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in July, Alibaba said.
Mr. Ma announced Sept. 10 that he would step down as executive chairman of Alibaba in one year, handing over the job to Chief Executive Daniel Zhang. He plans to continue as the founding partner in the Alibaba Partnership, a group of senior executives who have the right to nominate most of the company’s board despite not holding a majority of the company’s shares.
Alibaba dominates e-commerce in China through online sales platforms Taobao and Tmall, where Chinese consumers and businesses shop for apparel, food, electronics and other goods. The company reported revenue of $11.83 billion in its second quarter, up 61% year over year.
Write to Shan Li at shan.li@wsj.com
https://www.wsj.com/articles/jack-ma-removes-himself-as-owner-of-alibaba-business-licenses-1538365628?mod=e2tw