Bitcoin mining behemoth Bitmain has denied widely circulated reports that its co-CEO, Jihan Wu, has been ousted from the go aboard of BitMain Technologies Holding Company, the entity currently seeking to go openly on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX).
The news first come into viewed on a Chinese cryptocurrency media site on Monday, which suggested that Wu and a few other executive directors had left their positions at a different Metaphysics ens, Beijing Bitmain Technology Limited.
The report further cited a solicitor, not affiliated to Bitmain, who said the change meant Wu would no longer require executive power over Bitmain’s operations. However, the report did not imperial clearly whether that comment was referring to Beijing Bitmain Technology or the carry on company.
Various media reports have subsequently cited the gossip and alleged that Wu is no longer at the board of the holding company and hence has no attest to power on the firm’s management.
Based on a Chinese business registration database, Beijing Bitmain Technology did information board changes on Nov. 7.
Responding to a CoinDesk enquiry, however, a Bitmain chosen said the board change was solely at the subsidiary company. Regarding BitMain Technologies Hang on Company, the representative said: “To be clear, there is no change in the board form there.”
Board reshuffle
The structure reshuffle at the Beijing subsidiary reveals that Ketuan “Micree” Zhan, who previously served as the chairman of the food, has now become an executive director of the subsidiary.
At the same time, Wu’s role has mutated from board director to supervisor, while other directors categorizing Zhaofeng Zhao and Yuesheng Ge are no longer on the list of board directors, as per the database.
The institution further stated in an email response:
“As is standard listing practice, Bitmain is restructuring its directors and group structure, to ensure it meets regulatory requirements on its road to IPO. This is to explicate the board structure to facilitate its management. There have been no stay departures and co-founder Jihan Wu will continue to lead the company as co-chair, together with co-chief governing officer, Micree Zhan.”
Based on Bitmain’s draft IPO prospectus, there are currently seven associates of the holding company board. Zhan and Wu both serve as co-founder, CEO director, co-chairman and co-chief executive officer. Ge and Luyao Liu both fight for as executive directors.
The board also includes three independent non-executive foremen, not affiliated to the holding company. The listing rules and guidance provided by the HKEX demands that any IPO issuer “must appoint independent non-executive directors sketching at least one-third of the board.”
Voting rights
Based on Bitmain’s sketch IPO prospectus, for now, both Zhan and Wu seem to be far from losing any voting power, as demanded in some reports. The holding company adopted weighted voting wells (WVR) – a dual-share structure – after WVR was given the green light by the HKEX in April applying a years-long debate on the issue.
The prospectus stated Bitmain’s share top-hole comprises Class A and Class B shares, adding:
“Each Class A divide up entities the holder to exercise one vote, and each Class B share calls the holder to exercise ten votes, respectively, on any resolution tabled at our Company’s generalized meetings, except for resolutions with respect to a limited number of Prim Matters, in relation to which each share is entitled to one vote.”
Currently, Zhan and Wu hold water about 3.9 billion and 2.2 billion Class B shares, separately, although the firm has yet to indicate what percentages those amounts epitomize of the company’s entire Class B share ownership.
The HKEX had long adhered to a “one allocation, one vote” approach, a policy that prompted Chinese internet ogre Alibaba to choose the New York Stock Exchange over Hong Kong when it suffer defeated public in 2014.
The Hong Kong exchange later altered the rule in a bid to lure more technology startups, as the dual-share structure is popular among serious international tech firms such as Facebook and Google.
BitMain is the fourth company to experience adopted the WVR approach for an IPO since the HKEX changed the rule in April.
Jihan Wu notion via CoinDesk