Ma Huateng facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ma Huateng
|
|
|---|---|
| 马化腾 | |
Ma in 2019
|
|
| Born | October 29, 1971 Shantou, Guangdong, China
|
| Other names | Pony Ma |
| Education | Shenzhen University (BS) |
| Occupation |
|
| Known for | Co-founding of Tencent |
| Title | Chairperson of Tencent |
| Chinese name | |
| Simplified Chinese | 马化腾 |
| Traditional Chinese | 馬化騰 |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Mǎ Huàténg |
Ma Huateng (Chinese: 马化腾; pinyin: Mǎ Huàténg, born October 29, 1971), also known as Pony Ma, is a Chinese businessman and investor. He is famous for co-founding Tencent, a huge technology company. Tencent is one of the biggest internet and entertainment companies in the world.
Ma Huateng is the chairperson and CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Tencent. His company created WeChat, which is China's largest mobile messaging service. Tencent also offers many other services, like online games, payment systems, and entertainment.
Time magazine has named him one of the world's most influential people several times. Forbes and CEOWORLD magazine have also called him one of the most powerful people. He is known for being quite private, unlike some other famous business leaders.
As of late 2024, Ma Huateng is one of the wealthiest people in the world. His net worth is around US$43 billion. He was the first person from China to be listed among the top 10 richest people by Forbes.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Ma Huateng was born in Chaoyang, Shantou, a city in Guangdong, China. When he was young, his father got a job as a port manager in Shenzhen. Ma Huateng moved there with his family.
He studied at Shenzhen University. In 1993, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree. His studies focused on Computer Science and Applied Engineering.
Career
Starting Tencent
Ma Huateng's first job was developing software for pagers. Pagers were small devices used for sending short messages. He later worked on internet calling services.
In 1998, Ma Huateng and four classmates started their own company, Tencent. They were inspired by an early internet messaging service called ICQ. In February 1999, Ma and his team launched their own similar software. They called it OICQ (Open ICQ).
OICQ quickly became very popular in China. By the end of 1999, it had over a million users. Tencent offered OICQ for free, which helped it grow fast. However, this also meant the company needed money to keep running.
Ma Huateng looked for investors to help his company. In 2000, Tencent received $2.2 million from two investment firms. This money helped Tencent continue to grow. Ma also improved the messaging service. He made it possible for OICQ users to send messages to mobile phones. This was a big step for the company.
Growing the Business
In 2000, Tencent had to change the name of OICQ. Another company, AOL, owned ICQ and said OICQ's name was too similar. So, Ma changed the software's name to QQ.
After this, Ma decided to make Tencent bigger. In 2003, Tencent launched its own website, QQ.com. They also started to get into the online games market. By 2004, QQ was the biggest instant messaging service in China.
To help the company grow even more, Ma listed Tencent on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. This means people could buy shares of the company. Tencent raised $200 million, and Ma became one of China's richest people.
Tencent launched an online gaming platform in 2004. They started selling virtual items for games, like weapons and power-ups. They also sold emoticons and ringtones. In 2005, Tencent launched Paipai.com, an online shopping platform. This competed with another big Chinese company, Alibaba.
A major success for Tencent was WeChat. In 2010, Ma had two teams work on a new messaging app. One team created WeChat, which launched in January 2011. By 2015, WeChat became the largest instant messaging platform in the world. It is used by almost half of all internet users in Asia-Pacific.
Tencent also offers many other services. These include web portals, e-commerce, and popular online games. These games have greatly increased Tencent's income. In 2015, Ma announced that Tencent would build an "internet hospital." This hospital would offer online diagnoses and medicine delivery.
Other Activities
Helping Others (Philanthropy)
In 2016, Ma Huateng gave a large amount of his personal shares in Tencent to his charity. This was worth about US$2.3 billion. The charity is called the Ma Huateng Global Foundation. This shows his commitment to helping others.
Role in Politics
Ma Huateng has also been involved in Chinese politics. He was a representative for Shenzhen in the local People's Congress. He also served as a delegate in the 12th National People's Congress. This is China's highest state power body.
He has spoken about how important it is for online companies to manage information safely. He believes companies must follow rules and act responsibly. This helps prevent false information or arguments among people and countries.
Personal Life
Ma Huateng is often called Pony Ma. This nickname comes from the English meaning of his family name, Ma (马), which means "horse." He is known for being a very private person. He does not appear in the media very often.
His wealth mainly comes from his ownership stake in Tencent Holdings. He also owns property in Hong Kong and a collection of art. In 2018, a book called "China on Fingertips" was launched. This book, written by Ma Huateng, talks about China's journey to becoming a mobile internet power.
Images for kids
-
Ma Huateng in 2019
See also
In Spanish: Ma Huateng para niños
