Pony Ma
Born 1971 · Age 54
Chinese businessman, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Tencent; founder of WeChat; investor and philanthropist, known as 'Pony Ma'.
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Life & Career Timeline
Family moved to Shenzhen when father got job (childhood)
Ma accompanied his father Ma Chenshu when his father took a job as port manager in Shenzhen; this move shaped Ma's upbringing in Shenzhen.
Born in Chaoyang, Shantou, Guangdong
Ma Huateng (Pony Ma) was born in Chaoyang, Shantou, Guangdong, China.
Worked at Shenzhen Runxun Communications (R&D for Internet calling)
Ma worked in R&D for Internet calling services at Shenzhen Runxun Communications Co. Ltd.
Graduated Shenzhen University (B.S., Computer Science & Applied Engineering)
Ma received a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science and applied engineering from Shenzhen University.
First job: China Motion Telecom Development – pager software R&D
Ma worked at China Motion Telecom Development developing software for pagers; reportedly earned US$176 per month.
AOL acquired ICQ (context for later arbitration)
America Online bought ICQ in 1998; this later led to arbitration over domain/trademark with Tencent's OICQ.
Co-founded Tencent
Ma and four classmates co-founded Tencent in Shenzhen (company initially focused on internet communications and value-added services).
Sought bank loans and considered selling company to fund growth
Facing rapidly rising operational costs from OICQ growth, Ma applied for bank loans and discussed selling Tencent to stay afloat.
Launched OICQ (first Tencent product)
Tencent launched OICQ (a Chinese-language instant messaging client inspired by ICQ) in February 1999.
OICQ reached >1 million registered users
By the end of 1999 OICQ had more than one million registered users, becoming one of China's largest IM services.
Secured venture funding from IDC and PCCW (PCCW bought 40% stake)
In 2000 Tencent received funding from U.S. firm IDC and Hong Kong telecom PCCW; PCCW acquired a reported 40% stake for US$2.2 million.
Mobile messaging pivot and telecom partnerships
With declining pager market, Tencent enhanced messaging to reach mobile handsets and struck revenue-sharing deals with telecom operators (later generating ~80% of revenue in that period).
Renamed OICQ to QQ after arbitration with AOL
Following arbitration with AOL over OICQ domain/trademark, Tencent lost the case and in December 2000 changed the product name to QQ.
Launched portal QQ.com and entered online games market
Tencent released QQ.com and began serious expansion into online games.
Reported personal net worth approx. US$190 million (2004)
Reference works reported Ma's personal net worth at about US$190 million around 2004 after Tencent's IPO and growth.
Tencent became largest Chinese IM (74% market share)
By 2004 Tencent held approximately 74% of China's IM market, becoming the largest instant messaging service in China.
Recognitions in 2004: TIME and CCTV
Ma was named a Global Business Influential by Time and one of the 'top ten Economic Influentials—Innovation' by China Central Television in 2004.
Launched Tencent online gaming platform and virtual goods monetization
Tencent launched a games platform and monetized with virtual items (weapons, powers), ringtones and emoticons; gaming revenue became a major revenue stream.
Recognized as one of Time's Global Business Influentials (2004)
Time magazine named Ma a 'Global Business Influential' in 2004 (coverage in multiple reference sources).
Tencent IPO on Hong Kong Stock Exchange (raised ~US$200M)
Tencent listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in June 2004, raising about US$200 million in its initial public offering.
Launched Paipai.com (C2C e-commerce)
At Ma's direction Tencent launched the consumer-to-consumer marketplace Paipai.com in 2005 to compete with Alibaba.
Launched RTX (enterprise IM) and commercial licensing moves
Tencent launched RTX for business use (reported adoption by ~85,000 companies) and licensed QQ brand for consumer products.
Tencent offered first licensed internet radio broadcasts in China
Tencent began offering licensed radio broadcasts online in China, expanding content offerings beyond IM and games.
User growth milestone (Aug 2005): 438M registered, 173M active
By August 2005 Tencent reported over 438 million registered users and 173 million active users.
Ma credited product inspiration to standing 'on the shoulders of giants'
In a 2009 China Daily interview Ma acknowledged ICQ as inspiration and commented on Tencent's product strategy and debt/financing struggles.
Internal competition to build mobile messaging product
Ma set two internal engineering teams to build a new product; one team's work led to WeChat.
Launched WeChat (Weixin) mobile messaging app
Tencent launched WeChat in January 2011; later became China's dominant mobile messaging platform and central to Tencent's ecosystem.
WeChat development decision credited to internal engineering contest
Company-wide approach mimicking Microsoft: two teams built competing mobile products and WeChat emerged out of this process in late 2010 leading to the 2011 launch.
Delegate to the 12th National People's Congress (12th NPC)
Ma served as a delegate to China's 12th National People's Congress (the 12th NPC term ran 2013–2018).
Named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People (2014)
Time magazine included Ma in its list of the world's most influential people in 2014.
Reported art collection and Hong Kong residence (personal assets)
Reports indicated Ma owned art pieces reported worth ~US$150 million and a redeveloped palatial residence of ~1,820 m2 in Hong Kong.
Reported gaming-driven revenue milestone (approx US$5.1B revenue)
Tencent's online games (e.g., Legend of Yulong, Legend of Xuanyuan) helped boost revenue to reported figures around US$5.1 billion with ~US$1.5 billion profit in cited reporting.
Forbes named him one of the world's most powerful people (2015)
Forbes credited Ma as one of the world's most powerful people in 2015.
WeChat / QQ / Qzone user milestones (2015)
By late 2015, QQ had ~850M monthly active users, WeChat ~650M users, Qzone ~670M monthly active users; WeChat reported as the largest IM platform in many metrics.
Announced plan to build an 'internet hospital' in Wuzhen
Ma announced Tencent would build an internet-enabled hospital in Wuzhen providing remote diagnoses and medicine delivery.
Established/committed to Ma Huateng Global Foundation (charitable foundation)
Ma transferred substantial shares to the Ma Huateng Global Foundation; this formalized a major philanthropic vehicle.
Transferred 100 million Tencent shares (~US$2.3B) to charitable foundation
Ma set aside 100 million Tencent shares (~US$2.3 billion at the time) to the Ma Huateng Global Foundation; Forbes noted the shares remained listed under his name for net worth calculations.
Featured in coverage of China's billionaire rankings and market swings
Ma's rank among China's richest people fluctuated with Tencent share movements; he was covered extensively by Forbes and other business outlets in 2017.
Fortune: ranked among top businessmen of the year (2017)
Fortune ranked Ma among the top businessmen of the year in 2017.
Tencent stock rally lifted Ma's fortune to ~US$45B (Nov 2017)
Reports in November 2017 cited Ma's net worth near US$45 billion after Tencent's record stock close.
Named by Time among world's most influential again (2018) and CEOWORLD recognition
In 2018 Time named Ma among the most influential; CEOWORLD named him one of the 'Most Powerful People In The World'.
Published book 'China on Fingertips' (book launch)
Ma Huateng's book 'China on Fingertips' was officially launched on April 28, 2018, documenting mobile Internet-driven social transformation in China.
Public profile: noted for low-profile/secretive lifestyle
By late 2010s Ma was widely reported as media-shy and secretive compared to other Chinese tech founders.
WeChat surpassed 1 billion users (reported Dec 2023)
Britannica reported that WeChat had more than 1 billion users as of December 2023.
Listed as a Forbes-profiled billionaire with ongoing fluctuations in net worth
Forbes continued tracking Ma's wealth across market swings; his Tencent stake (reported 9.7%) remained central to his net worth.
Net worth reported US$51.5 billion (May 2025, Forbes)
Forbes reported Ma Huateng's net worth as US$51.5 billion as of May 2025.
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