Chao smartly wants to expand his user base, much as social networking behemoth Tencent did for years with its instant messaging service before earning a dime of profit.

Hurun calculates that 23 billion yuan, or 3.5 billion dollars, of ma's total worth comes from his company's entertainment business, which generates roughly 80% of Tencent's total market cap.

Richard told us that Tencent's industry model is unique in the global market and that all of their current businesses are built on top of the QQ IM service and its user base.