Forbes Indonesia — August 2017

64 | FORBES INDONESIA AUGUST 2017

Charles Chen 45

COFOUNDER, TENCENT

Three decades ago, Charles Chen’s il-

literate grandmother encouraged him

to take the national college entrance

exam. “University education was the

PHILANTHROPY

CHINA

key to opening a door that would alter

one’s destiny,” says the former Tencent

executive. Indeed, it was in college

that he met the other four core found-

ers of the internet-services giant and

also his future wife.

Last year, he committed $320 million

to improving education. The money will

fund the Yidan Prize (Yidan is his Chi-

nese given name), which will be awarded

each year to support the most transfor-

mational ideas in education. The first two

PREPARING FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION