Tencent, the Chinese technology company behind WeChat, was founded in 1998.
The company was established in Shenzhen by Ma Huateng, Zhang Zhidong, Xu Cheney, Chen Yidan, and Zeng Liqing. Its first major product was QQ, an instant-messaging service that became widely used in China. Tencent later expanded into online games, digital payments, social networking, music, cloud services, and entertainment.
WeChat launched later, in 2011, and became one of Tencent’s most important products. It combines messaging with payments, media, commerce, and other services in a single mobile platform. Tencent is sometimes described only as a social-media company, but its business is much broader. Its market capitalization has also moved substantially over time because of changing technology valuations, regulatory conditions, and investor expectations in China.