Tencent

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As Tencent’s CEO, Ma Huateng greatly expanded its offerings to include “lifestyle”-based services.

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Tencent, Internet and technology-oriented holding company based in Shenzhen, China, and best known for its messaging application WeChat. Through in-house subsidiaries and external investments, the company holds stakes in a variety of industries, including entertainment, financial technology, communications, and online advertising.

Tencent was formed in 1998 by Chinese entrepreneur Ma Huateng (also known as Pony Ma) and four of his friends. The following year, Tencent launched OICQ, a free instant messaging service that was later renamed QQ. Although QQ accumulated one million users in its first year of operation, the company was not profitable until 2001.

Tencent’s most prominent offerings are the mobile instant messaging apps WeChat and Weixin. WeChat is for international users, while Weixin operates on a tailored set of privacy policies for China’s mainland user base. WeChat and Weixin’s users can exchange text messages and make audio and video calls. The apps also allow users to play games, pay bills, and share posts with their social network, among other features.

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The QQ penguin is as recognizable to children in China as the McDonald’s “golden arches” logo is to children in the West, according to one media analyst.

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In addition to QQ, Tencent’s other social and communications products include Qzone, where users can maintain online diaries, blog, share stories, upload photos, and livestream videos. QQ’s mascot—a chubby penguin with a red scarf—has been featured in collaborations with well-known brands such as KFC and Casio.

Tencent operates a variety of entertainment subsidiaries, which the company calls a “neo-culture digital content matrix.” Tencent Pictures has produced a number of films, including Wonder Woman (2017), Venom (2018), and Men in Black: International (2019). Tencent Esports, the company’s electronic sports division, operates eight professional leagues for such games as League of Legends and Clash Royale. Tencent Music Entertainment Group consists of several streaming and entertainment apps, such as QQ Music, Kugou Music, Kuwo Music, and WeSing. The company also offers financial technology services, such as QQ Wallet and Tencent Cloud Blockchain as well as web mobile tools, such as QQ Mail, QQ Browser, and Tencent Map.

Tencent invests in a variety of companies across several sectors. The company owns stakes in several popular video game developers, including Epic Games (Fortnite), Roblox Corporation (Roblox), and Riot Games (League of Legends), of which Tencent owns 99.7 percent equity. Though it operates its own social media platforms, it has invested in Snapchat, Discord, and Reddit. Other notable investments include Tesla, PDD Holdings (the company behind Temu), Universal Music Group, Foxconn (a major manufacturer of Apple products), and Skydance Media.

In August 2020 U.S. Pres. Donald Trump issued an executive order banning Americans from making transactions through WeChat. The order was released simultaneously with a similar order concerning TikTok, which is a subsidiary of parent company ByteDance. The order accused WeChat of illicit data collection, stating that “like TikTok, WeChat automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users.” Though the ban was set to take place 45 days after issuance, a federal court blocked its implementation. In 2021 U.S. Pres. Joe Biden dropped the bans. Some technology analysts believe that WeChat could face the same stipulations if TikTok is banned.