Grab loses second top executive in six months as president quits
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Grab president Ming Maa will focus on his corporate development responsibilities from now until he leaves the company.
PHOTO: REUTERS
SINGAPORE - Grab Holdings president Ming Maa is leaving the South-east Asian ride-hailing and food delivery company, the second top executive to step down in the past six months.
Mr Maa, 46, is leaving at the end of April to “to devote more time to family matters” in the United States and other interests, the company said in a statement. He’ll work on corporate development activities until his departure.
Grab this month posted its first-ever profit on adjusted basis, a milestone for the decade-old company trying to convince investors of its earnings potential. While Grab leads the region’s ride-hailing and delivery markets, it has yet to reach net income as it’s forced to keep spending to fend off rivals such as Indonesia’s GoTo.
The company won’t replace Mr Maa as other senior managers will assume the role’s responsibilities.
In May, co-founder Tan Hooi Ling said she’d step down from her operational roles by the end of the year.
Ms Tan will formally leave the board from Dec 31, Grab said in the same statement on Tuesday. She’ll be an adviser to Grab for an initial period of two years starting from Jan 1 2024, and has agreed not to sell more than 50 per cent of her stake before Jan 1, 2025.
Chief people officer Ong Chin Yin will take over Ms Tan’s role on the board from Jan 1.
Grab is also expanding its board of directors to seven seats from the current six, and is looking for an additional independent director.
Shares of Grab, which had been one of South-east Asia’s hottest startups, are down about two-thirds since it went public through a US blank-cheque company in late 2021. They closed down 0.3 per cent at US$3.32 on Tuesday.
Still, they’ve stabilized this year as losses narrowed, outperforming its main regional rivals. BLOOMBERG