Mark Zuckerberg Vs. Pony Ma: the battle for the throne

Mark Zuckerberg is no longer king of social. Meet 'Pony' Ma

He's one of China's richest men -- THE richest, according to some rankings -- with a net worth of roughly $42 billion. His business interests range from social media to artificial intelligence, and his company has invested in Snapchat and Tesla. The latest news: The tech giant he founded is more valuable than Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook (FB, Tech30). But who is Ma Huateng? The founder of Tencent -- nicknamed "Pony" thanks to a surname that translates to "horse" in English -- is notoriously press shy, and rarely grants interviews. Ma worked in the pager business after graduating from southern China's Shenzhen University in 1993 with a degree in computer science.

From pagers to messaging platforms

But it wasn't until five years after leaving college that the low-profile businessman founded Tencent (TCEHY), and began work on the communications platforms that would turn the company into a global tech titan. Tencent developed a reputation as a copycat in its early days, and was accused of taking western products and adapting them for the Chinese market. Its PC messaging platform, for example, closely resembled a similar product from AOL. But the internet firm would later strike gold with WeChat, a mobile messaging service that is now used by almost 1 billion people.
WeChat is about far more than just messaging, however. It serves as the lynchpin of a product ecosystem that includes search, social networks and payment platforms.
Tencent has also built a massive mobile gaming business, generating sales of over $10 billion last year thanks to hugely popular titles like "Clash of Clans" and "Honor of Kings." Ma, 46, owns an 8.6% stake in Tencent, according to a regulatory filing made in October. Both the company's share price and his personal wealth have more than doubled over the past year. Read more...

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