Tencent was the first Asian firm to join the $500 billion market-capitalization club.
Tencent crossed a $500 billion market capitalization in November 2017, becoming the first Asian technology company to reach that valuation. The Hong Kong-listed company benefited from the scale of WeChat, its messaging and payments ecosystem, online games, digital content, and investments in other businesses.
Tencent was founded in 1998 by Ma Huateng and partners. Its original product, QQ, helped establish the company in internet messaging before WeChat became its internationally recognized mobile platform. The milestone is sometimes confused with Alibaba’s later market-cap achievements or with rankings based on annual sales. A company’s market cap depends on the share price and number of shares, while private-company valuations, enterprise value, and revenue are different measures.