Tencent became Asia’s first publicly traded company valued above US$500 billion in 2017.
Tencent crossed the US$500 billion market-capitalization level in November 2017 as its Hong Kong-listed shares rose. The company became one of the world’s most valuable technology businesses, joining a small group of global firms with valuations above that threshold. Its businesses included the WeChat messaging platform, online games, digital payments, advertising, and cloud services.
Tencent’s achievement is sometimes confused with Alibaba’s later valuation milestones because both companies are major Chinese technology groups listed in Hong Kong or overseas markets. Market capitalization also changes continuously, so crossing a threshold on one date does not mean the company permanently stayed above it.
Tencent was founded in Shenzhen in 1998 by Ma Huateng and several co-founders. WeChat, launched in 2011, became one of the company’s most influential products.