Tencent shares see slight recovery after 4-day slide in wake of co-founder Pony Ma selling off HK$1.3 billion of stocks, WeChat flaw

Shares of Tencent Holdings recovered slightly on Friday after heading south for four consecutive days in a week marked by its co-founder's hefty share sale, reports of a senior executive's departure and the scramble to fix a serious flaw in WeChat.
Shenzhen-based Tencent, Asia's largest internet company, saw its share price rise 0.23 per cent to finish at HK$131. That was still down 3.2 per cent from last Friday's close of HK$135.30.
Co-founder Pony Ma Huateng, the chief executive of Tencent, sold a total of HK$1.3 billion (US$412.9 million) of his shares in four transactions between September 19 and September 22, according to a Hong Kong stock exchange filing.
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He disposed a combined 23.85 million shares to reduce his personal stake in the company to 9.37 per cent from 9.62 per cent.
VC Brokerage director Louis Tse Ming-kwong said on Thursday that the series of transactions by Ma left retail investors speculating about his reasons.
"Mainland China's economy is sliding, so the local market is asking whether Ma wanted to realise gains now because he is anticipating a further downturn," Tse said.
He said others have speculated that Ma was simply in the process of diversifying his own investment portfolio and making arrangements for a personal acquisition.