Simon Hu had served as Ant CEO since December 2019.
Photo: jason lee/Reuters
Simon Hu, Chief Executive of Ant Group Co., resigned on Friday citing personal reasons, amid heightened scrutiny over the Chinese financial-technology behemoth.
“The Ant Group Board of Directors has accepted Mr. Simon Hu’s resignation request, due to personal reasons,” Ant said. ”We are thankful to Simon for the efforts he made at our company.”
Chairman Eric Jing will take up the CEO role. Mr. Jing said in an internal memo that Mr. Hu will devote his efforts to philanthropic work, and will be fully responsible for philanthropy and social responsibility at both Ant and its affiliate Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. , according to people who saw the memo.
Mr. Hu had served as Ant CEO since December 2019, taking over from Mr. Jing. His resignation came as Ant had been revamping its entire business following the abrupt cancellation of its initial public offering last year.
In November, Chinese authorities called off a two-part stock offering by Ant in Hong Kong and Shanghai, which would have been the world’s largest IPO.
Ant is controlled by Jack Ma, the billionaire founder of Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba.
Write to Jing Yang at [email protected]
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