Ant Group CEO Simon Hu resigns due to personal reasons

Simon Hu, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of China's Ant Group, has resigned from his position. Executive Chairman Eric Jing will replace him.

"The Ant Group Board of Directors has accepted Mr. Simon Hu's resignation request, due to personal reasons," Reuters quoted the company as saying in a statement.

The company said Jing will replace Hu, who was name CEO of Alibaba Holding in 2019. In an internal memo, Jing said he will also continue in his current role as chairman. Ant Group is an affiliate company of Jack Ma's Alibaba Group. 

Hu's exit comes at a time when Ant Group is working on plans to shift to a financial holding company structure following regulatory pressure to subject it to rules and capital requirements similar to those for banks. This had led to suspension of company's initial public offering (IPO) last year.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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