Tencent was founded in 1998 by Ma Huateng and four co-founders.
The Chinese technology company began in Shenzhen and initially developed internet services, including the instant-messaging platform QQ. Ma Huateng is also widely known by the name Pony Ma, while the company’s Chinese name is Tencent Holdings.
Tencent later expanded into online games, digital payments, social media, cloud computing, music, and other internet services. Its broad portfolio helped make it one of the largest publicly traded technology companies by market capitalization.
Tencent’s market value is listed primarily through its Hong Kong-traded shares. This can create confusion when comparing rankings because market-cap tables may use Hong Kong dollars, US dollars, or different share classes and reporting dates.