Richest Man In China Isn’t Jack Ma: Who Is ‘Pony’ Ma Huateng?

Ma Huateng is the richest man in China, upping erstwhile money king Jack Ma. How did Ma Huateng build his massive fortune?

Ma Huateng was ranked 20th in Forbes’s 2019 list of Richest People in the World. He has a net worth of $39.7 billion. His wealth comes from being the chairman of Tencent Holdings, one of the biggest businesses in China. In 2018, the tech company registered a whopping $47.3 billion in revenue.

Also known as Pony Ma, Ma Huateng is always compared to another Chinese billionaire Jack Ma. Both have become very rich due to their tech-based companies. However, the former Alibaba chairman is more visible on TV and the internet, giving interviews and talks and sometimes even singing and presiding over employee weddings. Pony Ma lives a more quiet lifestyle, owing to his engineering background.

Tencent has expanded in different industries in recent years. It owns WeChat, which has over 1 billion active users. WeChat has become China’s prominent messaging app and has added several features such as online payment options and booking flights and hotels, per CNBC.

Another thing Jack Ma and Pony Ma have in common is their belief the future is mobile and the key is integrating all other essential daily chores into one tech source. Unknown to many, Tencent also has investments in other companies which started as startups such as Spotify, Snap Inc., and Tesla.

According to Bloomberg, Pony Ma owns about $150 million worth of properties in Hong Kong. The Shenzhen University graduate founded Tencent in 1998 with a fellow Shenzhen University alumnus. It was not received well at that time because critics claimed it was always copying the products of others. That pushed Ma Huateng to contemplate for a while. The introduction of WeChat paved the road to success for Tencent.

His leadership style may be a bit of a surprise to some. In 2016, he ordered some executives to embark on a journey to a Gobi Desert for a company retreat. He said it would show determination in the company’s leaders.

Even though he shows some quirky side of him when it comes to leadership, Ma Huateng continues to set an example as to how a CEO should run a billion-dollar worth company. He was listed among the best CEOs in the world in 2019 by a business magazine, Barron's.