BEIJING — Chinese e-commerce tycoon Jack Ma has surrendered his ownership of entities that hold Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s business licenses in China.
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 Ma and was disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in July, Alibaba BABA, -0.94% said.
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.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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