Ma Huateng
Chinese businessman; co-founder, chairman and chief executive of the internet company Tencent
| Ma Huateng
| |
|---|---|
| Born | 29 10 1971 (age 55 years old (as of 2026)
) |
| Occupation | businessman |
| Known for | Co-founder, chairman and CEO of Tencent |
| Education | Shenzhen University (BSc, 1993) |
Ma Huateng (born 29 October 1971), also known as Pony Ma, is a Chinese businessman. He is one of the core founders of the internet company Tencent, owner of WeChat, and is its chairman and chief executive.[1][2] On 20 October 2026 the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Ma Huateng 44th in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$44.67 billion; Forbes lists the source of wealth as Online games.[1][3] In the annual World's Billionaires list published in 2026, Forbes had ranked Ma Huateng 33rd, at US$53.8 billion.[4]
Education and early career
Ma graduated from Shenzhen University in 1993 with a BSc in computer applications. He then ran research and development for an internet paging system at China Motion Telecom Development, a telecoms supplier.[2] Forbes says he started Tencent in 1998.[1]
Business career
Tencent's board page describes Ma as an executive director, chairman of the board and chief executive, responsible for strategic planning and management, and says he has worked for the group since 1999. It also notes that he is a director of Advance Data Services Limited, which holds a disclosable interest in Tencent shares.[2] Forbes reports that WeChat has more than 1.4 billion monthly users. It says Tencent is one of the world's largest video-game publishers, known for titles such as Honor of Kings, and holds stakes in Epic Games, Tesla and Spotify. It adds that Ma has been increasing investment in AI, including the Hunyuan family of models, and in 2026 hired the former OpenAI researcher Yao Shunyu to lead Tencent's AI efforts.[1]
Wealth
Forbes gives the source of his wealth as online games.[1]
Wealth history
Forbes has included this entry in its annual World's Billionaires list in 19 of the editions from 2001 to 2026 checked for this profile, starting with 2008. The table gives the rank and estimated net worth in each annual list.[4][1]
| Year | World's Billionaires rank | Net worth (US$ bn) |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 843 | 1.4 |
| 2009 | 522 | 1.4 |
| 2010 | 249 | 3.6 |
| 2011 | 208 | 5.0 |
| 2012 | 223 | 4.7 |
| 2013 | 173 | 6.8 |
| 2014 | 80 | 13.4 |
| 2015 | 56 | 16.1 |
| 2016 | 46 | 16.6 |
| 2017 | 31 | 24.9 |
| 2018 | 17 | 45.3 |
| 2019 | 20 | 38.8 |
| 2020 | 20 | 38.1 |
| 2021 | 15 | 65.8 |
| 2022 | 34 | 37.2 |
| 2023 | 34 | 35.3 |
| 2024 | 57 | 30.2 |
| 2025 | 29 | 56.2 |
| 2026 | 33 | 53.8 |
Philanthropy
In April 2016 Tencent announced that Ma planned to give 100 million of his Tencent shares to a charity fund. The fund was to support healthcare, education and environmental protection in mainland China and research in frontier technology and basic science worldwide.[5] The South China Morning Post valued the pledge at about US$2.1 billion.[6] The announcement said Ma had led the founding of the Tencent Foundation in 2007. It also listed him as vice-chairman of China's Ai You Foundation, a board member of the One Foundation, a director of The Nature Conservancy's China chapter, and co-chairman of the Paradise International Foundation, which he set up with other Chinese entrepreneurs.[5] Tencent says that by the end of 2025 the company had given RMB15.6 billion (US$2.2 billion) to the Tencent Charity Foundation.[7]
Political activity
Tencent states that Ma served as a deputy to the 12th and 13th National People's Congress.[2]
Controversies and legal issues
In January 2025 the US Department of Defense added Tencent to its list of "Chinese Military Companies". In an announcement signed by Ma as chairman, Tencent said the listing was a mistake because it is not a military company or a military-civil fusion contributor, that the listing affects only US defence procurement, and that it would seek reconsideration and, if necessary, take legal action.[8] No legal proceedings against Ma personally were found.
International and political links
This section uses the same ten headings for every profile in this series. Only specific, sourced actions are included; company-level and foundation-level actions are labelled as such. Where nothing was found, the entry reads "No documented involvement found in sources checked."
Israel (investments, operations, donations, contracts, statements)
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Zionist or pro-Israel organisations and lobbying groups
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Jewish communal charities
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Gulf states
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
China
Ma has served as a deputy to the National People's Congress (see Political activity).[2]
Russia
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
India
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Palestinian or Arab causes
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Home government
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Other international links
For the Pentagon's 2025 listing of Tencent and the company's response, see Controversies.[8]
See also
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Forbes, Forbes profile record for Ma Huateng (Forbes data feed behind forbes.com/profile/ma-huateng/) Forbes, live record, read 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Tencent Holdings Limited, Board of directors Tencent, undated (accessed 20 October 2026), accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Forbes, Forbes Real-Time Billionaires data feed Forbes, live; downloaded 20 October 2026 11:51 UTC, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Forbes, Forbes World's Billionaires list data feed, annual editions 2001–2026 (one file per year at this path with the year substituted; all 26 files downloaded and read) Forbes, annual lists; downloaded 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Tencent Holdings Limited, Tencent chairman and CEO to donate 100 million shares of the Company towards philanthropic and charitable causes Tencent (press release), 18 April 2016, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Bien Perez, Tencent CEO Pony Ma pledges US$2.1b in shares to new charity fund South China Morning Post, 19 April 2016, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Tencent Holdings Limited, Tencent Charity Foundation Tencent, undated (figures as of end-2025), accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Tencent Holdings Limited, Voluntary Announcement (inclusion in the U.S. Department of Defense list of Chinese Military Companies) Tencent (HKEX announcement), 7 January 2025, accessed 20 October 2026.