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Mass board clear-out at Worldfirst as billionaire Ma tightens his grip
Evening Standard
|June 23, 2023
LONDON fintech WorldFirst has seen a mass board exodus as billionaire Jack Ma tightens his grip on the management of the payments company, the Standard has learned.
A suite of senior leaders have left the firm in the past year, including CEO Jeff Parker, finance director Stephen Gregson and managing director Danny Howe.
Senior members of the company’s risk and legal team have also left, including its head of risk, chief information security officer, and group general counsel and compliance officer.
Staff at the fintech’s parent company, Ant Financial, and its sister company, Chinese payments platform Alipay, have been among those brought in to replace the departing execs and managers.
Founded in London in 2004, WorldFirst was acquired by Jack Ma's Ant Group in 2019 in a deal thought to be worth more than $700 million (£550 million).
This story is from the June 23, 2023 edition of Evening Standard.
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