Jack Ma plans to relinquish control of his fintech giant Ant Group, according to a The Wall Street Journal report, as the company seeks to ease concerns raised by regulators who derailed its massive $37 billion IPO plan nearly two years ago.

Ma, a 57-year-old former English teacher who is also the co-founder of e-commerce behemoth Alibaba, has been considering giving up control of Ant for some time, according to a person familiar with the matter. The move makes sense from a corporate governance perspective, the person said, because the tycoon no longer has an executive role at Ant nor is he on the board, although he controls more than 50% of the firm through related investment holdings entities.

But it is not entirely clear how he intends to relinquish control. The WSJ’s The report said the billionaire may transfer some voting rights to Ant executives including CEO Eric Jing, and he may only do so after the fintech giant completes its restructuring plan.

Ant is required to become a financial holding company by the country’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China, reining in the once aggressively expanding micro-lending service as authorities remain intent on curbing risk and reducing leverage in the economy. The company may have to wait longer before it can apply for a public listing, as firms that have recently experienced a change of ownership must have a cooling-off period under Chinese rules.

Ma’s move, if completed, would also mark the former high-flying billionaire’s further retreat from the business empire he started more than 20 years ago. The tycoon stepped down as CEO of Alibaba in 2013 and relinquished the chairmanship in 2019. He has largely stayed out of the public eye after delivering a speech in 2020 critical of financial regulators and state-owned banks that drew ire in Beijing.

Alibaba, for its part, is also moving to distance itself from Ant. According to the e-commerce giant’s annual report published earlier this week, several Ant executives have resigned from the Alibaba Partnership, which was formed in 2010 and allows senior management to nominate the majority of the company’s board. Alibaba, meanwhile, continues to own about a third of Ant, whose Alipay e-wallet is the primary payment option on the e-commerce platform.