Pony Ma Huateng, co-founder of Tencent, has returned to the top of China’s wealth rankings, becoming the country’s latest tech billionaire, according to Bloomberg.
Weak economic news from the world’s second-largest economy sent some Hong Kong-listed equities lower on Monday (September 16), allowing Ma to surpass bottled water tycoon Zhong Shanshan with a wealth of US$43.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Zhong falls to third place, with Zhang Yiming, the founder of TikTok’s privately held owner ByteDance, in second.
Ma’s fortunes have recently risen as Tencent’s gains have outperformed those of any comparable-sized competitor, riding a resurgence in gaming in China, the world’s largest mobile market.
Tencent’s success with blockbuster titles like Dungeon & Fighter Mobile and Black Myth: Wukong, as well as Beijing’s support, boosted the company to unprecedented levels since the Covid era.
This comes after China spent the better part of two years reigning in the country’s most dominant internet businesses, including Alibaba Group and Didi Global, as well as their ultra-wealthy owners.
This clampdown damaged investor and entrepreneurial confidence while also chilling a private sphere that was critical in pushing China’s economic miracle in recent decades.
Ma, who formerly represented China’s ruling elite of exorbitantly wealthy tech moguls, was also targeted in the purge.
However, unlike his more prominent colleagues, Tencent’s founder has always been something of a recluse, avoiding the spotlight and preferring to organize activity from behind the scenes.
His fortune is still down nearly 40% from its peak in January 2021, according to Bloomberg’s wealth index.
He is the third individual to hold the title of China’s richest since July, when record-breaking sell-offs erased billions from the fortunes of the country’s wealthiest and highlighted rising investor anxiety about Asia’s largest economy.
Colin Huang, the founder of PDD Holdings, held the title for only 18 days last month before shocking his own investors with a bleak outlook for his e-commerce business.
Ma founded Tencent in 1998 with funds from an earlier enterprise at a cost of 500,000 yuan (S$91,266), which was equivalent to 62 years of the average Chinese salary at the time.
The native of China’s southern Guangdong region studied computer science at Shenzhen University and worked as a software developer before co-founding Tencent with four others.
Tencent, the world’s largest games publisher, skyrocketed in the years preceding China’s crackdowns, reaching its peak valuation as the world’s fifth-most valuable firm. Tencent has also acquired shares in Tesla, Reddit, Snap, Spotify Technology, and a number of global entertainment firms.
At the time, Ma was one of the Chinese tycoons who amassed large fortunes as the country’s economy grew, eventually becoming the country’s richest person in June 2020.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Ma’s wealth is primarily derived from his ownership in Tencent, situated in Shenzhen.
Following China’s moves to limit the influence of tech companies and root out corruption linked to the “disorderly” expansion of capital, Tencent downsized by divesting or selling stakes in e-commerce and gaming assets, and the government ordered the company to overhaul its financial operations.
Since late 2022, Beijing has issued clear signals that it is relenting, owing in part to the need to enlist private enterprises to revitalize the economy. It concluded years of investigation against Ant Group and the fintech sector last year by issuing fines totaling more than US$1 billion.