Naspers was the first African company to reach a $100 billion market capitalization.
Naspers exceeded a $100 billion market capitalization in 2018 after investors continued to revalue its large stake in Tencent, the Chinese internet company. Naspers itself is based in South Africa, while Tencent is based in China, so the milestone reflected the value of Naspers’s international investment as well as its own operations.
The company began in 1915 as a South African newspaper publisher and later developed interests in pay television, internet services, and technology investments. Its Tencent holding became especially valuable as Tencent expanded in online games, social media, and digital payments.
A common mistake is to treat Naspers and Tencent as the same company. They are separate listed businesses. Naspers’s valuation also demonstrated how a holding company can become extremely valuable through an ownership stake in another corporation, even when its direct operating businesses are smaller.