Chen Yidan (, born 1971), also known as Charles Chen, is a Chinese internet entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of

Tencent Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the w ...

, founder of the Chen Yidan Charity Foundation, and founder of the

Yidan Prize The Yidan Prize (/i:dan/) is a prize founded in 2016 by Chen Yidan for "contributions to education research and development". The prize is financed and governed by a HK$2.5 billion (about US$320 million) independent trust. It is a global, inclusiv ...

Foundation.

Education

Chen Yidan was born in

Huizhou Huizhou ( zh, c= ) is a city in central-east Guangdong Province, China, forty-three miles north of Hong Kong. Huizhou borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the west, Shenzhen and Dongguan to the southwest, Shaoguan to the north, Heyua ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

, and grew up in

Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern provin ...

, Guangdong. He obtained a bachelor's degree in applied chemistry from Shenzhen University and a master's degree in

economic law Economic law is a set of legal rules for regulating economic activity.Ferdinand Joseph Maria Feldbrugge, Gerard Pieter van den Berg, William B. Simons (1985) "Encyclopedia of Soviet Law", '' BRILL'', O. S. (Olimpiad Solomonovich) Ioffe, Mark W. Ja ...

from

Nanjing University Nanjing University (NJU; ) is a national public research university in Nanjing, Jiangsu. It is a member of C9 League and a Class A Double First Class University designated by the Chinese central government. NJU has two main campuses: the Xianl ...

.He subsequently earned a Doctor of Business Administration from

Singapore Management University The Singapore Management University (SMU) is a public autonomous university in Singapore. The university is the only city campus in Singapore. It ranks third in Asia as a specialist university, behind Hong Kong University of Science and Techn ...

Tencent

In 1998, Chen Yidan co-founded the internet holding company

alongside

Ma Huateng Ma Huateng (, born on October 29, 1971), also known as Pony Ma, is a Chinese billionaire business magnate. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Tencent, one of the most valuable companies in Asia, one of the largest intern ...

Zhang Zhidong Zhang Zhidong () (4 September 18375 October 1909) was a Chinese politician who lived during the late Qing dynasty. Along with Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang, Zhang Zhidong was one of the four most famous officials of the late Qi ...

, Xu Chenye, and Zeng Liqing. He served as the company's

chief administrative officer A chief administrative officer (CAO) is a top-tier executive who supervises the daily operations of an organization and is ultimately responsible for its performance. Government and non-profit A CAO is responsible for administrative management of ...

(CAO). Yidan also led the company's Tencent Charity Foundation. In March 2013, Yidan stepped down as Tencent's CAO. He continued to be involved with the company as an advisor, sponsor, and honorary chairman of the Tencent Charity Foundation.

Philanthropy

In March 2013, Chen Yidan founded the Chen Yidan Charity Foundation after stepping down from his role as CAO of Tencent.

Wuhan College

In 2009, Yidan cofounded Wuhan College and became a school initiator. In 2015, Yidan donated RMB20 million to support the college's library construction and reading material purchases.

The Yidan Prize

In May 2016, Chen founded the

, funded by an independent trust of HK $2.5 billion (US $320 million). The award was established to recognize innovators and those who had made contributions to education. The Prize included two annual awards, the Yidan Prize for Education Development and the Yidan Prize for Education Research. Each prize included a cash award of HK $15 million as well as a project fund of HK $15 million.

Recognition

In 2015 Yidan was named to the China Philanthropy Institute’s list of top Chinese philanthropists. In 2016, he appeared on the China Charity Ranking List as well. In June 2017, he was named one of China's top philanthropists by

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also rep ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Yidan 1971 births Living people Businesspeople from Guangdong Chinese computer businesspeople Chinese philanthropists Shenzhen University alumni Tencent people 21st-century Chinese businesspeople