“After 10 years of exploration and participation in philanthropic activities, I increasingly feel a better way to continue giving back to society is to do it over a longer term and in a more organized way.”
BACKGROUND
Mr. Ma Huateng, or Pony Ma, is the chief executive officer and chairman of Tencent Holdings, one of China’s largest Internet companies. Tencent is known for its mobile phone instant-messaging service called “QQ” and Weixin (WeChat in English). The company also has interests in media, entertainment and gaming, and e-commerce. Mr. Ma is an entrepreneur and multibillionaire. Mr. Ma was born in the Chaoyang District of Shantou, Guangdong, and now resides in Shenzhen. He is a graduate of Shenzhen University, where he completed a bachelor of science degree in computer science. Subsequently, he held positions at China Motion Telecom Development. The story of the founding of Tencent has the classic twists and turns of a Silicon Valley drama. Mr. Ma, along with four other classmates, cofounded Tencent in 1998. As is characteristic among many technology start-ups, Mr. Ma struggled to build the company, drawing his inspiration from the hard-won experiences of others in the United States and Europe. Tencent’s messaging system had its conceptual origins in an Israeli company’s product called ICQ. Developing the service for a Chinese market, the software was named OICQ and then eventually QICQ and then QQ. In the company’s early years, Tencent fought legal battles with America Online over intellectual property rights and survived. By 2004, Tencent became the largest Chinese instant-messaging service, and by 2015, WeChat was the largest instant-messaging platform in the world.
The Tencent Foundation was created in 2007 with a gift of USD 3.2 million (RMB 20 million) from the Tencent Company. Every year, additional donations have been made to further grow the foundation, totaling over USD 286 million (RMB 1 746 billion) by the end of March 2016. In 2016, Mr. Ma announced the creation of a new charitable organization with assets anticipated to be at more than USD 2 billion (RMB 12 billion), rivaling the twin personal charitable trusts established by Jack Ma and Joseph Tsai worth about USD 3 billion (RMB 18 billion) back in 2014. Mr. Ma stated, “After 10 years of exploration and participation in philanthropic activities, I increasingly feel a better way to continue giving back to society is to do it over a longer term and in a more organized way.” The primary interest areas will be healthcare, education, environmental protection, causes in mainland China, and basic science research and innovative technology.
MOTIVATION
The goal of the Tencent Foundation, established in 2007, has been to promote collaborative projects with other charitable organizations. Most of the projects have focused on disaster relief, education, and social benefit. Mr. Ma has recognized that creating social value and bringing value to society are primary reasons for his charitable activities. He believes that both individuals and businesses should undertake social responsibilities and support, and care for as well as give back to society. Mr. Ma holds to the principle that “success is measured by how much value one can bring to the society,” which guides both his business and philanthropic efforts. In addition, he encourages people to not just advocate for philanthropy but also participate in person. With the creation of the new personal philanthropic organization, Mr. Ma intends to address issues both in mainland China as well as worldwide.
IMPACT
An initial hallmark of Mr. Ma’s philanthropy has been to utilize the Internet to advance charitable activities. He hopes to “make full use of the influence of Tencent’s online platform in addition to donating money” Tencent has focused on using the Internet to connect thousands of enterprises, NGOs, and philanthropic projects together with its users on a large scale. Tencent’s New Village project, started in 2009, adopted an innovative approach for educational and poverty relief programs. It assisted rural areas of Western China to develop cultural, economic, and educational projects using Internet-based tools. Until February 2011, 60 “Dream Spaces” have been established through the project, bene ting over 50,000 teachers and students. In addition, Tencent Foundation is particularly good at expanding its social impact through its leadership in the industry. For example, Tencent initiated the 9.9 Philanthropy Day in 2015, which raises money through Tencent’s online platform. The event has broken the record of online fundraising for two years in a row. In 2016, with the matching donations from Tencent Foundation and other businesses, the 9.9 Philanthropy Day raised nearly USD 100 million (RMB 600 million), which will support over 3,600 philanthropic projects. Mr. Ma’s newest philanthropic endeavor will be of interest, as he intends to bring a professional team to efficiently manage projects.