The moves come as a crackdown on technology companies has intensified since November, when Jack Ma’s Ant Group Co was forced to pull its giant initial public offering. It’s a new era for the country’s billionaires as China tightens regulations in areas from financial services and internet platforms to data security and overseas listings.
China’s tech tycoons are discovering their charitable side as they come under mounting regulatory scrutiny from Beijing.
In the latest example, Xiaomi Corp co-founder Lei Jun handed over US$2.2 billion of shares in the smartphone maker to two foundations, according to filings to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. That came after Meituan’s Wang Xing and ByteDance’s Zhang Yiming gave away parts of their fortune to charitable causes last month.
