Tencent

Tencent, a Chinese multinational technology conglomerate, operates from its headquarters in Shenzhen. By revenue, it ranks among the world’s top-earning multimedia companies, and through its equity holdings, it has become the largest firm in the global video game industry. Its publicly traded entity, Tencent Holdings Ltd, is incorporated in the Cayman Islands and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Founded in November 1998 by Pony Ma, Zhang Zhidong, Xu Chenye, Charles Chen, and Zeng Liqing, the company was initially named Tencent Inc. in the Cayman Islands. Its name derives from the Chinese *Tengxun*, which incorporates part of Pony Ma’s Chinese name and means “galloping fast information.” Venture capitalists provided early funding. In February 1999, Tencent released its messenger product OICQ, later renamed QQ—reportedly due to a lawsuit threat from ICQ and its owner AOL. The company was unprofitable for its first three years.

In 2001, South African media company Naspers purchased a 46.5% stake; by 2023, it held 26.16% through Prosus, which also owns shares in sister companies like OLX, VK, and Trip.com Group. Tencent Holding Ltd went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 16 June 2004 and became a Hang Seng Index constituent in 2008. Initially, revenue came solely from advertising and premium QQ subscriptions. By 2005, it also generated income from QQ mobile services and licensing its penguin mascot. By 2008, virtual goods sales drove profit growth. In June 2007, Tencent established a charity foundation, the first Chinese internet company to do so.

Online gaming entered its portfolio in 2004, but around 2007–2008, Tencent rapidly expanded by licensing games—including *Crossfire* and *Dungeon Fighter Online* from South Korean developers—and later developed its own titles. On 21 January 2011, it launched Weixin, now branded as WeChat, a “super app” with over one billion monthly active users. That same year, on 18 February, Tencent acquired a 92.78% majority stake in Riot Games, developer of *League of Legends*, for about US$230 million (having held 22.34% since 2008); it bought the remaining equity in December 2015. In June 2012, it took a minority stake in Epic Games, creator of *Fortnite* and the Unreal Engine. That year, it also acquired ZAM Network, parent of Wowhead and other sites.

In 2013, Tencent increased its stake in Kingsoft Network Technology to 18% via a US$46.98 million investment, and it participated as a passive investor in Activision Blizzard’s split from Vivendi, holding less than 4.9% of shares by 2017. On 17 September 2013, it invested $448 million for a minority share in Chinese search engine Sogou.com. In January 2014, it invested HKD 1.5 billion in logistics firm China South City Holdings. On 27 February 2014, it bought a 20% stake in restaurant-rating site Dianping for $400 million. On 10 March 2014, it acquired a 15% stake in e-commerce platform JD.com, paying cash and handing over its own e-commerce business.

Tencent’s twin-skyscraper headquarters, Tencent Seafront Towers (also known as Tencent Binhai Mansion), are in Shenzhen’s Nanshan District. In December 2023, architect Büro Ole Scheeren unveiled a helix-inspired design for a new global headquarters, Tencent Helix, which will accommodate over 23,000 employees across nearly 500,000 square meters. The company surpassed a US$500 billion market value in 2018, becoming the first Asian tech firm to do so, and has since been China’s most valuable publicly traded company. As of February 2022, it ranked tenth globally by market value. In 2015, 2018, and 2020, Boston Consulting Group and Fast Company named it among the world’s 50 most innovative companies. Tencent holds stakes in over 600 companies, focusing on Asian tech startups since 2017; TechCrunch noted its strategy of letting portfolio startups operate autonomously. Its valuation neared US$1 trillion in January 2021 before dropping, but recovered by November 2025. On the 2023 Forbes Global 2000 list, Tencent Holdings ranked 35th.