Tencent owns WeChat and became China’s first company to exceed US$500 billion in market value.
Tencent was founded in Shenzhen in 1998 by Ma Huateng and several co-founders. Its first major product was QQ, an instant-messaging service that became widely used in China. Tencent later built businesses in online games, digital payments, advertising, music, cloud services, and social media.
WeChat, known as Weixin in China, was released in 2011 and grew into a multipurpose platform combining messaging, payments, public accounts, and mini programs. Tencent’s shares briefly pushed its market capitalization above US$500 billion in 2017. The company’s valuation has since fluctuated with technology-sector conditions and regulatory developments.