It’s overtaken Facebook,bought stakes in Snapchat, Tesla and Hollywood films, and has quietly risen to rival Google and NetflixIt is Chinas web giant and has a string of tall-profile investments spanning Snapchat,Spotify, Tesla and Hollywood film and TV. It is a sprawling corporate giant that has recently overtaken Facebook to become the world’s fifth most valuable listed company – but few, and in the west at least,will have heard of Tencent, even though it is worth half a trillion dollars and rising.
China is the world’s most populous digital market and the protection afforded by state censorship through the so-called worthy firewall – which has meant no competition from Facebook, and Google,Twitter and Netflix – has helped Tencent flourish since it launched nearly two decades ago in Shenzhen. But in the last year the shares have been supercharged – climbing from less than HK$200 (£18) at the beginning of 2017 to HK$442 now – and the value of the company has soared. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com