Tencent’s Billionaire Pony Ma Becomes China’s Richest Amid Tech Resurgence

Tencent’s co-founder, Pony Ma, has reclaimed the top spot on China’s wealth rankings, marking the latest ascent of a tech billionaire in the country. Recent economic concerns in China, the world’s second-largest economy, led to a decline in some Hong Kong-listed shares, enabling Ma to overtake bottled water magnate Zhong Shanshan. Ma’s fortune now stands at an estimated $43.9 billion.

Zhong has fallen to third place, while Zhang Yiming, the founder of ByteDance, which owns TikTok, holds second place. Ma’s wealth has seen significant growth recently, fueled by Tencent’s exceptional performance in the tech sector, particularly in gaming, where China remains the global leader in mobile gaming.

Tencent’s resurgence can be attributed to the massive success of games like Dungeon & Fighter Mobile and Black Myth: Wukong, the latter of which became a cultural sensation with Tencent’s backing. The company’s success has been further bolstered by government assurances of support, propelling it to a level not seen since the height of the pandemic-driven digital boom.

This rise in Tencent’s fortunes follows a period of intense regulation, during which Beijing cracked down on several of the country’s most influential tech giants, including Alibaba and Didi Global. The regulatory measures impacted not only these companies but also their billionaire founders, dampening investor confidence and stifling the private sector that had been a key driver of China’s economic success for decades.

Ma, known for his reclusive nature and preference for avoiding the limelight, wasn’t immune to this crackdown. His fortune is still about 40% lower than its peak in early 2021. However, his discreet leadership style has allowed him to navigate the turbulence more smoothly than some of his more outspoken peers.

He is the third person to hold the title of China’s richest in recent months, as massive sell-offs erased billions from the fortunes of the country’s elite, revealing growing concerns about the state of the Chinese economy. Just weeks earlier, Colin Huang, founder of PDD Holdings, briefly held the title before delivering a bleak outlook for his e-commerce company, which shook investor confidence.

Ma co-founded Tencent in 1998, using funds from a previous venture, an amount that at the time was equivalent to 62 years of the average Chinese wage. Born in Guangdong province, Ma studied computer science at Shenzhen University and worked as a software developer before founding Tencent with four partners.

Tencent, now the world’s largest video game publisher, saw its value skyrocket in the years preceding China’s regulatory crackdown. At its height, the company was the fifth-most valuable in the world, with holdings in companies like Tesla, Reddit, Snap, and Spotify, as well as numerous global entertainment brands. Ma himself became China’s wealthiest individual in mid-2020, as his fortune grew alongside the country’s rapid economic expansion.

The majority of Ma’s wealth comes from his stake in Tencent, headquartered in Shenzhen. However, after Beijing began curbing the influence of tech companies and addressing concerns about the unchecked expansion of capital, Tencent was forced to downsize, shedding assets in e-commerce and gaming. The company was also mandated to restructure its financial services division.

Since late 2022, Beijing has signaled a softer stance on tech companies, motivated in part by the need for private sector involvement to stimulate economic recovery. The government concluded its investigations into Ant Group and the broader fintech industry last year after levying over $1 billion in fines, signaling a shift in policy and opening the door for companies like Tencent to regain momentum.

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