While Jack Ma was trying to save his relationship with Beijing in early November, the besieged Chinese billionaire offered to hand over parts of his financial technology giant, Ant Group, to the Chinese government, according to people familiar with the matter.
“You can take any of Ant’s platforms as long as the country needs it,” Ma, China’s richest man, said in an unusual meeting with regulators, people said.
The offer, which was not previously reported, emerged as a kind of fault on Ma’s part, as he found himself face to face with Chinese central bank officials and securities and banking agents. The November 2 meeting took place a few days before Ant was made public, which would have been the largest initial public offering in the world.
Ma angered Beijing by attacking President Xi Jinping’s signature campaign to control financial risks in an October speech, saying it stifled innovation. Now, regulators have convened the meeting to express concerns about Ant’s business model.
Its olive branch offer at the meeting failed to save the IPO, and Beijing has stepped up its efforts to dominate China’s Big Tech giants.
People close to China’s financial regulators say there is no decision yet to take Ma on his offer. A plan that is being considered involves subjecting Ant to stricter capital and leverage regulation, according to the people. In this scenario, state-owned banks or other types of state investors would buy in Ant to help cover any capital shortfalls due to tightening rules.
An extended version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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