China’s Tencent is Now Worth Over $500 Billion

Tencent joins tech giants such as Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Apple which have over $500 billion valuation — surpassing Jack Ma’s Alibaba in the process.

Shares for Tencent reportedly rose to 4.12% to close $420 Hong Kong dollars ($53.76) on Monday, pushing the tech company to become the first ever Chinese conglomerate to crack the $500-billion threshold, according South China Morning Post.

The Shenzhen-based company, which is being headed by Pony Ma Huateng, was first launched in 2004, when the price for its shares was at $3.70 Hong Kong dollars (around $0.47 at the time), or $3,700 Hong Kong dollars ($473.69) for one board lot, which has 1,000 shares.

It wasn’t until 2009 when the company experienced a pickup in its growth, which continued to climb steadily through 2013, TechSpot reported. Tencent eventually doubled its value in the beginning of 2017.

For context, an investment of $1,764 during the company’s 2004 public offering would now be worth around $1 million, and a single board lot of 1,000 shares is now at $2.1 million Hong Kong dollars ($268,822).

While Tencent’s mobile game application “Honor of Kings” proves to be quite popular, its social media app counterpart, on the other hand, is already making waves in China.

The company’s WeChat reportedly has nearly 1 billion users in the country as of the end of September. But imagine the number of users it would produce if the tech giant decides to make the app available worldwide.

Another factor to consider in Tencent’s massive success is its online publishing and e-book unit China Literature, which was launched earlier this month. The company reportedly raised $8.3 billion Hong Kong dollars ($1.1 billion) after Tencent priced its 151 million shares at $55 Hong Kong dollars ($7.05) per piece.

Coming close to Tencent’s tail is massive e-commerce Alibaba with a $474 billion market cap.

Featured Image via Flickr / Chris Yunker (CC BY 2.0)