Dirk Van de Put and Pony Ma

Dirk Van de Put and Pony Ma represent two very different paths to the top of global business. Van de Put built his reputation in food and consumer goods, rising to lead Mondelēz International and, in 2026, becoming chairman of AB InBev. Pony Ma, meanwhile, transformed Tencent into a technology giant spanning social media, gaming, fintech and digital services. Both are highly influential executives, but their industries, fortunes, education and public profiles reveal striking differences.

Dirk Van de Put and Pony Ma Quick Bio

Detail	Dirk Van de Put	Pony Ma
Full Name	Dirk Van de Put	Ma Huateng
Date of Birth	May 14, 1960	October 29, 1971
Net Worth	Estimated around $80–85 million based on publicly reported holdings; exact personal wealth is not officially disclosed	About $47 billion; Forbes’ estimate fluctuates with Tencent’s share price
Age	66 years old	54 years old
Nickname	No widely documented public nickname	Pony Ma
Birthplace	Wilrijk, Belgium; raised in Mechelen	Chaoyang, Shantou, Guangdong, China
Nationality	Belgian-American	Chinese
Profession	Business executive and corporate director	Technology entrepreneur, businessman, investor and executive
Famous For	Chairman and CEO of Mondelēz International and chairman of AB InBev	Co-founder, chairman and CEO of Tencent
Current Position	Chairman & CEO of Mondelēz International; Chairman of AB InBev	Chairman and CEO of Tencent Holdings
Education	Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University; postgraduate business studies, University of Antwerp	Shenzhen University — bachelor’s degree in computer science/applications
Career Beginning	Joined Mars in 1986, beginning a long international consumer-goods career	Worked in telecommunications before co-founding Tencent in 1998
Major Previous Role	President & CEO of McCain Foods, 2011–2017	Built Tencent from a startup into a global technology company
Major Companies	Mondelēz International, McCain Foods, Mars, Coca-Cola, Danone, Novartis, AB InBev	Tencent Holdings
Major Brands / Products	Oreo, Cadbury, Milka, Toblerone, Ritz and other Mondelēz brands	WeChat, QQ, Tencent Games, Tencent Cloud and other digital services
Business Industry	Food, snacks and consumer packaged goods	Technology, internet, gaming, fintech and digital entertainment
Parents	Not reliably documented	Not reliably documented
Siblings	Not reliably documented	Not reliably documented
Marital Status	Married	Married
Spouse	Wife’s name is not consistently documented in major public biographies	Wife’s name is generally kept private
Children	Two sons	One daughter publicly reported
Family	Married with two sons; maintains a relatively private family life	Married with a daughter; keeps his family largely out of public view
Hobbies	Not reliably documented; personal interests are kept private	Not reliably documented
Height	Not reliably documented	Not reliably documented
Weight	Not reliably documented	Not reliably documented
Hair Color	Not reliably documented	Not reliably documented
Eye Color	Not reliably documented	Not reliably documented
Instagram	No clearly verified personal Instagram account identified	No clearly verified personal Instagram account identified
Languages	Dutch, English, French, Spanish and Portuguese	Public biographies emphasize his technology and business background rather than a verified list of multiple languages
Major Achievement	Led Mondelēz as CEO from 2017 and became AB InBev chairman in 2026	Built Tencent into one of the world’s largest internet and gaming companies
Technology / Digital Impact	Consumer-food leadership rather than technology	WeChat and Tencent’s digital ecosystem have enormous global reach
Gaming	No major gaming business role	Tencent is one of the world’s largest video-game publishers
Artificial Intelligence	Mondelēz has incorporated technology and innovation into its business strategy	Tencent has increasingly invested in artificial intelligence and its Hunyuan AI models
Philanthropy	Public philanthropic details are relatively limited	Major education and charitable giving, including support for Shenzhen University
Leadership Style	International consumer-business leadership focused on brands, growth and innovation	Technology leadership focused on digital platforms, gaming, social media and innovation
Public Profile	Primarily known in international business circles	One of China’s best-known technology billionaires
Personal Lifestyle	Relatively private	Highly private and low-profile
Notable 2026 Development	Became AB InBev chairman effective June 16, 2026	Continues as Tencent chairman and CEO
Overall Legacy	Global food-industry leadership and management of some of the world’s best-known snack brands	Transforming Tencent into a technology, social-media, gaming and digital-services powerhouse

Dirk Van de Put and Pony Ma Images

Dirk Van de Put and Pony Ma Instagram