Zeng Liqing, one of Tencent's co-founders, has recently drawn significant attention for two contrasting reasons. On one hand, his venture capital firm, DeXun Investment, made an early bet on Yushu Technology Co., Ltd. (688836.SH) that has proven spectacular—the remaining stake is now worth nearly RMB 2 billion, with a total return of several hundred times the initial outlay. On the other hand, there is the lingering "wealth regret" from his early decision to sell down Tencent shares: had he held them long-term, that stake would now be valued at over RMB 100 billion. From being one of the "Five Tigers of Tencent" to becoming an angel investor, Zeng's life choices have always carried a distinct personal signature.

Betting on Yushu, Earning Hundreds of Times in Returns

With Yushu Technology listing on the STAR Market of the Shanghai Stock Exchange in mid-month, early investors have once again become the focus of market attention—and DeXun Investment, under Zeng Liqing, is among them. According to public records, in July and December 2019, DeXun Investment injected RMB 4.6255 million into Yushu Technology through two capital increases. In June 2024, DeXun Investment transferred nearly half of its registered capital to Source Code Capital for RMB 30 million, a single transaction that alone yielded a return of approximately 6.49 times. As of now, DeXun Investment still holds 3,153,024 shares in Yushu Technology, representing about 0.78% of the company's total share capital. Based on the stock's first-day high of RMB 1,100 on listing, that stake would be worth approximately RMB 3.468 billion; based on the latest closing price of RMB 591.53, the corresponding market value is about RMB 1.865 billion. Combined with the earlier investment and the equity transfer, the total return on this investment has reached approximately 408.56 times.

For Zeng Liqing, this high-return investment in Yushu Technology is undoubtedly a classic case that can be inscribed in his investment track record. But behind this investment lies the result of years of trial and error in his investment career. In 1998, Zeng joined Ma Huateng's founding team, becoming one of the early founding shareholders of Tencent alongside Zhang Zhidong, Xu Chenye, and Chen Yidan, collectively known as the "Five Tigers of Tencent." At the time, the five pooled RMB 500,000 to start the business, with Zeng holding 12.5% and serving as COO, primarily responsible for marketing. When Tencent listed in Hong Kong in 2004, Zeng held approximately 63.8121 million shares, representing about 3.79% of Tencent's then-issued shares. In 2007, after Tencent's development had stabilized, Zeng resigned as COO and transitioned into the investment industry. That same year, he founded DeXun Investment, officially beginning his journey as an angel investor.

Initially, Zeng deliberately avoided the internet business he knew well from Tencent, investing in apparel, tourism, restaurants, and even real estate—but many of these projects ultimately failed. Over time, he came to realize that his deepest expertise lay in the internet and in Tencent-affiliated entrepreneurs, so he refocused his investments on sectors like internet, wireless, and interactive entertainment. Companies such as Taomee, 7Road, Taole Network, and Yunchang Games successively entered DeXun Investment's portfolio. Today, DeXun Investment's investment footprint has extended further into hard technology, including Yushu Technology, Xingchen Intelligence, and Qingyu Technology. Zeng has summarized his investment philosophy, stating bluntly that several types of founders are not worth investing in: wealthy individuals starting second businesses, college graduates who jump straight into entrepreneurship without work experience, couples working together, and teams with obvious capability gaps. He once said that his primary motivation for angel investing was not to make money, "but to pass the time—purely to find a job for myself." That said, investing ultimately comes down to results. Thanks to his investment career, in the October 2019 Hurun Rich List, Zeng Liqing ranked 968th nationally with wealth of RMB 4.3 billion. One of the key funding sources supporting his investment activities was precisely the cash he had realized from selling Tencent shares early on. At present, Zeng has fully liquidated his Tencent holdings. According to earlier market estimates, his total cash-out from selling Tencent shares amounted to approximately HKD 1.5 billion to 2 billion.

A 'Wealth Regret'

Although DeXun Investment's investment in Yushu Technology has so far generated a paper return of over 400 times, it is still widely believed that there is a huge "wealth regret" behind this. A recent social media post showed a netizen commenting: "If he had done nothing back then, held every share to this day, that 3.79% original stake alone would be worth close to HKD 200 billion at its peak." The "operations" the netizen referred to likely include the June 2024 partial stake transfer to Source Code Capital for RMB 30 million. The netizen claimed that Zeng actively tinkered with investments, building a fortune of tens of billions and a solid industry reputation, but completely gave up the opportunity to ride the wave passively, permanently missing out on a near-20-fold top-tier wealth appreciation—a classic real-world illustration of "choice over complacency" in the internet era. According to public data and market calculations, if Zeng had kept the shares he held when Tencent listed in 2004, and accounting for subsequent stock splits and capital changes, his current share count would be approximately 319 million shares, representing about 3.4% of the company. Based on Tencent's latest total market capitalization of HKD 4.05 trillion, the book value of that stake would now be HKD 137.7 billion, equivalent to approximately RMB 118.1 billion.

Of course, this calculation can only be a "what if." For an entrepreneur, cashing out after a company goes public and pursuing new ventures is not wrong in itself. Moreover, Zeng did not stop creating wealth after selling his Tencent stock—he pivoted to becoming an investor and indeed hit star projects like Yushu Technology. But compared to "lying flat," investing is clearly a harder and far more uncertain path. In the Yushu Technology story, there is another early investor whose story is even more poignant: DJI, which was also the only company where Yushu Technology founder Wang Xingxing worked before starting his own business. In 2018, DJI acquired approximately 17% of Yushu Technology for about RMB 10.1286 million, when Yushu Technology's valuation was only around RMB 60 million. DJI's stake in Yushu Technology went beyond a mere investment agreement—the two parties even completed the industrial and commercial registration, making DJI the largest external shareholder of Yushu Technology. Had that stake been held to this day, based on the first-day high of RMB 1,100, its market value would have exceeded RMB 25 billion. However, in 2019, an internal anti-corruption campaign at DJI brought its entire investment department to a standstill, with all external investment projects urgently suspended for review. Ultimately, DJI chose to reduce its capital that year, completely exiting Yushu Technology's shareholder roster. Between that entry and exit lies today's enormous gap in paper wealth. Of course, investment opportunities that look extremely attractive in hindsight were not necessarily so certain back then. Whether it was Zeng Liqing liquidating Tencent or DJI exiting Yushu Technology, both were pragmatic choices made under the specific circumstances of their times.

Final Thoughts

In fact, Zeng Liqing is hardly someone lacking the ability to make money. On the contrary, from founding Tencent to pivoting into investing, he has repeatedly redeployed the wealth he had already secured into new opportunities. The hundreds-of-times return on Yushu Technology proves his judgment. But the capital markets just love to make comparisons using "what ifs." If Zeng had never sold his Tencent shares, he might now have a fortune of hundreds of billions; if DJI had not exited Yushu Technology, it might now be sitting on tens of billions in paper profits. Unfortunately, there is no "what if" in reality. Zeng ultimately chose a more proactive, more restless life. He did not rest on the wealth from his Tencent shares; instead, he turned the cash he realized into chips for continued betting. While he may have missed out on a hundred-billion-level paper fortune, he has also become a true professional investor—so perhaps it's not such a regret after all.