Internet mogul Pony Ma named most generous Chinese philanthropist

Chinese internet mogul Pony Ma Huateng has been named the most generous philanthropist in the ethnic Chinese world, donating US$2.15 billion in a year, according to the Hurun Research Institute.

The donations by Ma, co-founder and president of Hong Kong-listed Tencent Holdings, included 100 million company shares – worth an estimated 1.39 billion yuan (HK$1.64 billion) – that he committed to fund his personal charity, as well as 250 million yuan from Tencent to the company’s own foundation.

Ma was followed by Charles Chen Yidan, co-founder of ­Tencent, who donated US$615 million, including 2 billion yuan to Wuhan College, a private school in central China, as well as HK$2.5 billion to fund the Yidan Prize, an education award.

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Hurun compiled the data from a survey of 3,000 Chinese entrepreneurs, including 1,877 who were on its “China Rich List” for last year.

A total of 122 ethnic Chinese philanthropists, including 13 from Hong Kong and five from Taiwan, made the list. Between them, they donated a total of 35.2 billion yuan.

The donations included cash and cash equivalents pledged with legally binding commitments for the 12-month period from April last year to March, as well as significant donations up to Tuesday.

Who are the biggest Chinese philanthropists?

Mainland philanthropists have given away on average 1.9 per cent of their assets, making them more generous than their non-mainland counterparts, who on average gave away 0.9 per cent of their wealth. The average age of the top 100 mainland philanthropists was 55, 21 years younger than their non-mainland counterparts, the report said.

Other top philanthropists ­included Hong Kong casino magnate Lui Che Woo, Terry Guo of Foxconn, property tycoon Wang ­Jianlin, real estate developer Xu ­Jiayin, Fujian-based billionaire Huang Rulun, chairman of China Oceanwide Group Lu Zhiqiang and Sharp-Roxy chairman Li ­Dak-sum.