Jack Ma of the Alibaba Group has always hailed as the richest man in China but now, Tencent’s Pony Ma, whose real name is Ma Huateng, has displaced him from the top spot. Here is all you need to know.
Ma Huateng (or Pony Ma) is a Chinese business magnate and investor. He is also a politician and is currently the deputy to the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Congress. Additionally, his position makes him a delegate in the 12th National People’s Congress.
He is popularly known as the founder of Tencent and he is the Chairman and CEO of the company. Tencent also owns WeChat the most widely used social media platform in China.
As of June 2020, Pony Ma is said to have a net worth of about $55 million. He started the year with a net worth of $49.4 billion. Meanwhile, his closest rival and former richest man in China, Jack Ma, is now worth $48 billion.
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According to a 2020 Business Insider ranking, Pony Ma is the 19th richest person in the world. He is sandwiched between Mackenzie Bezos and Charles Koch.
Tencent’s gaming, social media, and entertainment businesses have seen a huge surge during the pandemic and the lockdown procedures that followed. Thus, with the company’s valuation nearing $595 billion, it is only natural for Pony Ma’s wealth to increase.
However, China’s new richest man is a very private person. This is likely why he is rarely in the news when compared to his outspoken counterpart, Jack Ma. Jack Ma also stepped down as chairman of Alibaba Group in September 2019; this likely impacted his ranking in the world’s wealthiest people.
Also, it is worth mentioning that Jack Ma and Pony Ma are not related. Their common last name is simply because Ma is a popular surname in China. According to a Wikipedia article, it is the 14th most common Chinese surname in Mainland China, especially among Chinese Muslims.
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