Chinese billionaire's harsh message to staff: 'You can't even survive as a business, yet you're...'

Tencent co-founder and billionaire Pony Ma

It's usual for companies to hold year-end internal meetings where heads of organisations often congratulate the staff for their performance that year, but a Chinese billionaire has made headlines for his harsh message to employees -- don't chill when business is struggling.

Pony Ma, the co-founder of tech and gaming giant, Tencent, recently delivered a blistering rant against the way staff has been managing the businesses, Bloomberg reported.

His message to the employees was clear -- the survival of some businesses is in doubt and they need to get their act together.

“You can’t even survive as a business, yet you’re chilling on the weekends, playing ball," Bloomberg reported Ma as saying to the staff. The publication added that Ma's comments were first reported by local media outlet Jiemian.

Jiemian reporting that Tencent's Pony Ma minced no words at the employee meeting on 12/15 where the topic was cost cutting. He also said lots of corruption uncovered this year, and that the investigations made him realize that's why some projects couldn't get off the ground.

— Rui Ma 马睿 (@ruima) December 22, 2022

Together with an economic slump and Covid restrictions, Tencent Holdings Ltd has been going through a crunch with its gaming business facing hurdles from regulations intended to curb addiction among the youth. Pony Ma lost $14.6 billion after a sweeping crackdown on the gaming industry last year. The company also laid off thousands this year, Bloomberg reported.

The billionaire also told off employees for rampant corruption occurring across ranks and hinted at businesses getting cut if they did not perform well, especially its social network and content empire. “Could that business get cut? I told the team — possibly," the publication reported Pony Ma as saying.

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