40 Facts About Tencent

1. Tencent is the world's largest video game vendor, as well as one of the most financially valuable companies.

2. Tencent was founded by Pony Ma, Zhang Zhidong, Xu Chenye, Charles Chen and Zeng Liqing in November 1998 as Tencent Inc, incorporated in the Cayman Islands.

3. The name "Tencent" is based on its Chinese name Tengxun, which incorporates part of Pony Ma's Chinese name (Ma Huateng; 马化「腾」) and literally means "galloping fast information".

4. Tencent Holding Ltd was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 16 June 2004, and it was added as a Hang Seng Index Constituent Stock in 2008.

5. On 21 January 2011, Tencent launched Weixin, a social media app.

6. On 18 February 2011, Tencent acquired a majority of equity interest in Riot Games, developer of League of Legends, for about US$230 million.

7. Tencent acquired a minority stake in Epic Games, developer of franchises like Fortnite, Unreal, Gears of War and Infinity Blade, in June 2012.

8. On 15 January 2014, Tencent said it would invest HKD 1.5 billion in logistics and warehouse firm China South City Holdings Ltd to develop its e-commerce and logistics business.

9. On 27 February 2014, Tencent purchased a 20-percent stake in restaurant ratings and group-buying website Dianping for $400 million.

10. On 10 March 2014, Tencent bought a 15 percent stake in Chinese e-commerce website JD.

11. On 23 October 2014, Tencent pitched in $145 million for a 10 percent stake in Koudai Gouwu, a Chinese mobile shopping portal.

12. In January 2015, Tencent launched WeBank, China's first online-only bank.

13. In July 2016, Tencent acquired a majority stake in China Music Corporation.

14. In May 2017, Tencent surpassed Wells Fargo to enter the world's top 10 most valuable companies.

15. In June 2017, Tencent became the 8th most valuable company in BrandZ's Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands, signalling its growing influence globally as well as the rise of Chinese brands.

16. Tencent became the second Asian company after Alibaba Group to surpass US$400 billion market cap.

17. Tencent led a US$5.2 billion investment in Wanda Commercial, together with JD.

18. In October 2019, Tencent began sending out refunds to customers after cancelling the broadcast of NBA games in response to the Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey's social media comments in support of protests in Hong Kong.

19. On 29 June 2020, Tencent acquired the video-on-demand service iflix in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

20. In September 2020, Tencent picked Singapore as its hub in Asia, joining rivals ByteDance and Alibaba in the race to reinforce their presence closer to home after complications in India and the United States.

21. On 17 December 2021, Tencent announced it had acquired Slamfire Inc and its subsidiary Turtle Rock Studios, the developer behind Left 4 Dead and Back 4 Blood.

22. In January 2022, reports emerged that Tencent was one of the major tech conglomerates to receive a fine from the SAMR for failing to report their merger and acquisition deals in advance.

23. On 11 January 2022, it was announced that Tencent was in talks to acquire Xiaomi-backed Black Shark, one of the largest gaming smartphone makers in China.

24. Tencent created QQ International, which is an English version of QQ that allows communication with mainland accounts, QQi is available for Windows and macOS.

25. In 2015, Tencent launched Tencent Pictures, a film distributor and a production company that creates and distributes films based on books, comic books, animated series and video games.

26. In 2014, Tencent established exclusive in-China distribution agreements with several large music producers, including Sony, Warner Music Group and YG Entertainment and in 2017 it signed a deal with Universal Music Group to stream its music in China.

27. In March 2020, Tencent started testing Trovo Live, a live-streaming service for worldwide users.

28. Tencent was reported in 2017 to be working with China's Central Bank to develop a central payments clearing platform for online payments.

29. In 2008, Tencent released a media player, available for free download, under the name QQ Player.

30. Tencent launched Tencent Traveler, a web browser based on Trident.

31. On 10 April 2010, Tencent launched Tencent Weibo, a microblogging service.

32. In June 2011, Tencent launched Tencent Video, a video streaming website.

33. In 2017, Tencent launched its own credit score system called Tencent Credit, with a process similar to that of Sesame Credit, operated by its competitor, the Alibaba Group, through its subsidiary Ant Financial.

34. In late April 2017, Tencent announced it was preparing to launch its virtual reality headset that year.

35. Tencent spent $10 million to buy 1.68 million American Depositary Shares earlier in the month, according to Nio's latest filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

36. In 2007, Tencent invested over RMB100 million in the establishment of the Tencent Research Institute, which became China's first research center dedicated to core Internet technologies.

37. Occasion of the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, Tencent released a mobile game titled "Clap for Xi Jinping: An Awesome Speech", in which players have 19 seconds to generate as many claps as possible for the party leader.

38. In June 2018, Tencent filed a lawsuit against Toutiao and TikTok in a Beijing court, alleging they had repeatedly defamed Tencent with negative news and damaged its reputation, seeking a nominal sum of RMB 1 in compensation and a public apology.

39. Tencent emphasized, "That will never happen on my watch as the founder, CEO, and controlling shareholder," and that Epic is an American company, implying that it would not compromise an ethos of free speech in the name of currying favor with authorities in China just to try to maximize profit there.

40. In January 2021, a proposed class action lawsuit was filed in California against Tencent, alleging user censorship and surveillance via WeChat.