Tencent Holdings, the Chinese technology giant behind WeChat, was founded in 1998.
Ma Huateng, Zhang Zhidong, Xu Cheney, Chen Yidan, and Zeng Liqing established Tencent in Shenzhen, China. Its first major product was QQ, an instant-messaging service that became one of the country's best-known internet platforms.
Tencent later expanded into online games, digital payments, social networking, cloud computing, music, and entertainment. WeChat, introduced in 2011, became a particularly important platform by combining messaging with payments, services, media, and business tools.
Tencent's name is sometimes confused with the names of its individual products. Tencent Holdings is the publicly traded parent company; WeChat and QQ are products and platforms operated within its broader business. Tencent is listed in Hong Kong and has become one of Asia's most valuable companies.