China's antgroupwassettomaketheworld's largesteverstockmarketdebut, backedbybillionaireJackMarr, is $37 billionlistingwouldhavesurpassedSaudiAramco's recordfloatof $29.4 billionlastyear.
Butthe I P O hasbeensuspended.
In a dramaticmovefollowing a recentinterview, ChineseregulatorsheldwithmarkandtopexecutivesLet's take a stepbackandlookathowauntgrewintotheworld's largestunicorn, whichpowersChina's biggestonlinepaymentsplatform, werefoundinChinabutwerebuiltfortheworld.
TheHangzhoubasedcompanyis a spinofffromMarsAlibabaGroupafterlaunchingin 2000 andfouras a paymentsprocess, ER, itscorealipayapphasgrowntoaccumulatemorethan 730 millionmonthlyusersinChina.
Ontherelies a coreconundrumforinvestorsandregulatorsWhatexactlyisAuntFinancialcolossusortechgiantMahrous?
Certainlypushingforthelatter.
He's keentotoutitas a techvendorforfinancialfirms, labelingitas a techFinnratherthan a fintechoutfit.
AntsFinntoTechShiftBegantwoorthreeyearsagoasChineseregulatorsheightenedscrutinytocontrolfinancialrisks, skepticssayregulatorsareunlikelytoturndowntheheaton a companythatonlythisyearchangeditsnamefromantfinancial.