Pony Ma Huateng donates an average of $2.15 billion a year. (Photo : Getty Images)
In a recent Hurun Research Institute report, Chinese Internet magnate Pony Ma Huateng has been named as the country's most generous philanthropist after donating $2.15 billion in a year.
According to an article by the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the co-founder and president of Tencent Holdings' donations covered 100 million company shares he allocated to fund his personal charitable works. The shares are estimated at 1.39 billion yuan.
Apart from this, Ma also donated 250 million yuan from his firm's own foundation.
Coming behind Ma is another co-founder of the Internet powerhouse, Charles Chen Yidan, Hurun reported. The Tencent executive donated a total of $615 million yuan, which includes a 2-billion-yuan donation to Wuhan College, a private Central China-located academic institution, and a HK$2.5 billion donation to the education award, Yidan Prize.
The SCMP noted that Hurun gathered the data by surveying 3,000 Chinese entrepreneurs and businessmen. Of this figure, 1,877 made it on the "China Rich List" in 2015.
Hurun's list of Chinese philanthropists reached a total of 122 entrepreneurs, which include five from Taiwan and another 13 from Hong Kong.
The research stated that the accumulated donation of these individuals amounted to 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," SCMP wrote.
Philanthropists from mainland China donated 1.9 percent of their assets on average, making them more generous than others who donated outside the area. Their non-mainland counterparts gave away 0.9 percent of their wealth on average.
The report further emphasized that 55 was the average age of the top 100 mainland philanthropists. The figure was 21 years younger than those in non-mainland regions.
China's roster of most generous entrepreneurs also included Hong Kong casino mogul Lui Che Woo, Foxconn's Terry Guo and property tycoon Wang Jianlin.
Sharp-Roxy chairman Li Dak-sum, real estate developer Xi Jiayin, China Oceanwide Group chairman Lu Zhiqiang, and Fujian-based billionaire Huang Rulun also made it to the list.
