(Yicai) Sept. 28 -- Ping An Insurance Group, China’s biggest insurer, has named Chief Human Resources Officer Michael Guo as co-chief executive after Jessica Tan, nicknamed ‘Working Queen’ because of her high pay, announced her resignation for personal and family reasons.

Tan, 46, will cease being co-CEO on Jan. 1, but will stay on as a director, Shenzhen-based Ping An said in a statement yesterday. Her family lives in Singapore and rumors have been circulating about her plans since June 2020.

The insurance and fintech giant added that Guo, 51, will take her place. He joined Ping An in September 2019 and has also been executive vice president of Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance. Before that, Guo was a partner and managing director at Boston Consulting Group.

Co-CEO since 2018 and mainly responsible for Ping An’s fintech business, Tan received the ‘Working Queen’ moniker after her salary reached CNY19 million (USD2.6 million) in 2020. She was previously chief information officer and chief operating officer. Before joining Ping An over a decade ago, Tan was a partner at McKinsey.

During Tan’s tenure, Ping An developed several core platforms such as payment providers Yiqianbao and Tianxiatong, small-business loans provider Lufax Holdings, Ping An Pay, used car dealer Ping An HaoChe and real estate portal Pingan Haofang.

But in the first half of this year, operating profit at Ping An's technology segment slid from last year to CNY2.25 billion (USD309 million), mainly weighed down by Lufax’s earnings.

Lower profit translated into lower executive pay. Tan had a pre-tax income of CNY14.4 million (USD2 million) in 2022, which was still much higher than that of other senior executives at the company, but less than what it was in 2020.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Emmi Laine