Tencent’s Pony Ma says cost-cutting will continue in 2023 and pins hope on short video as major growth driver: report
- Ma reviewed Tencent’s cost cutting efforts in staff meeting and hit out at employees for a lack of urgency
- Tencent’s founder said the internet giant must focus on core businesses in 2023 and that short video is key to the future
In the year-end meeting for company employees, Ma reviewed Tencent’s cost cutting efforts and hit out at employees for a lack of urgency when it comes to improving efficiency, according to the report. “Please don’t tell me the possible chances,” Ma said. “How big can a noncore business grow into, and if it grows big, so what?”, he was reported as saying.
Ma said Tencent, which has been divesting some of its investment portfolio, has to get into a habit of cutting costs and finding core areas instead of seeking expansion and scale. “In the past, when we saw others were adding weight, we also tried to increase in size, but what we added was just fat, and we were still unable to defeat others,” Ma was quoted as saying.
Tencent did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Tencent employee, who declined to be named for having no authority to talk with the media, confirmed the authenticity of Ma’s remarks.
The 51-year-old Chinese tech tycoon, who has kept out of public view in recent years, warned employees that any business could be cut if it underperforms, including the firm’s long-established news portal unit whose logo is emblazoned on Tencent Towers, one of the company’s main office buildings.