(Yicai Global) Jan. 24 -- Pony Ma, founder and chairman of Chinese internet titan Tencent Holdings Ltd. briefly edged past Google co-founder Sergey Brin yesterday to take 11th place on the Forbes rich list after his company's shares shot up to a record high.

Tencent's share price [HKG:0700] rose 3.17 percent yesterday to close at HKD474.6 (USD60.7) a share, giving it a historically high market cap of over HKD4.5 trillion and consolidating its place as the world's fifth-largest company. It took over social media behemoth Facebook Inc. at the end of last year.

Ma, known in Chinese as Ma Huateng, holds an 8.63-percent stake in the firm, per data from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The share price hike took his personal assets to USD52 billion to place him behind Bloomberg LP founder Michael Bloomberg on the prominent rich list. He has since returned to the number 12 spot, behind Brin.

Shares in Tencent shot up after the company penned a deal with French retailer Carrefour SA. Under the agreement, the internet firm and its partner Yonghui Superstores Co. will jointly invest in the supermarket's China operations.

Ma is Tencent's second-largest shareholder behind South African media giant Naspers Ltd., which owns almost a third of the firm. It originally bought 46 percent for USD32 million in 2000 and hasn't sold shares since, but its holding has diluted as the Chinese company expanded its share capital.