Tony Zhang Zhidong (, born 1972), is a Chinese businessman who is the co-founder, former CTO and second-largest individual shareholder of

Tencent Tencent Holdings Ltd. ( zh, s=腾讯, p=Téngxùn) is a Chinese Multinational corporation, multinational technology Conglomerate (company), conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimed ...

, a Chinese internet conglomerate.

Early life and education

Zhang Zhidong was born in 1971. He was in the same class at Shenzhen University as Tencent's founder, fellow billionaire

Ma Huateng Ma Huateng (, born October 29, 1971) is a Chinese businessman, investor and philanthropist who is the co-founder, chairperson and chief executive officer (CEO) of Tencent, one of the most valuable companies in East Asia, one of the largest int ...

. He also has a master's degree from South China University of Technology.

Career

According to ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'', Zhang Zhidong has a net worth of $24.1 billion, as of March 2021. Zhang was Tencent's Chief Technology Officer for 16 years until his retirement in September 2014.

Personal life

He lives in Shenzhen.

References

1971 births Living people Businesspeople from Guangdong Billionaires from Guangdong Shenzhen University alumni South China University of Technology alumni People from Dongguan Tencent people 21st-century Chinese businesspeople Chinese technology company founders {{Business-bio-stub