H
e’s one of the world’s richest
men and the founder of a
technology empire. His name?
Ma Huateng, or Pony Ma to his friends
and disciples (Ma means ‘horse’).
Unlike Alibaba founder Jack Ma
(no relation), Huateng keeps a low
profile, but the influence he wields
is like that of few others.
Huateng was the first Chinese
person to hit the top 10 of Forbes’
list of the world’s richest people.
His investment strategy has been
compared to that of the Sage of
Omaha, Warren Buffett. But his
wealth creation stems from Tencent,
the company he founded in 1998.
Tencent’s killer app is WeChat, the
ubiquitous Chinese communication
app that also bakes in banking,
ecommerce and much else besides.
But Huateng is also fiercely acquisitive
and has amassed a wealth of further
opportunities in the tech space.
He has also set up a charitable
foundation – the Ma Huateng Global
Foundation – to which he donated
$2.3 billion worth of Tencent stock
in 2016.
Huateng started out designing
software for pagers, for which he is
reported to have been paid $176 a
month. He now owns property and
artwork valued at around $150 million,
not to mention that all important 9.
per cent share of Tencent.Share
percentage
of Tencent
9.7 %LEGEND
Pony’ Ma
Huateng
He’s the founder and
face of Tencent, Asia’s
most valuable company.
But what makes ‘Pony’
Ma Huateng a legend?‘
18 March 2021