{"id":10957,"date":"2022-09-20T07:30:10","date_gmt":"2022-09-20T07:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/?p=10957"},"modified":"2025-04-23T09:37:23","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T09:37:23","slug":"the-rise-and-rise-of-tencent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/the-rise-and-rise-of-tencent\/","title":{"rendered":"The rise and rise of Tencent"},"content":{"rendered":"

From owning stakes in Fortnite, Snapchat and Tesla, to funding Hollywood movies like Venom, Chinese internet giant Tencent probably plays a bigger role in your daily life than you think. A new book by Lulu Chen examines Tencent\u2019s rise and looks ahead to its future<\/h2>\n

Despite its massive influence, Tencent remains the biggest Chinese corporation that few have an in depth understanding of, with CEO and founder Pony Ma one of the most mercurial of China\u2019s billionaire entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n

WeChat, Fortnite and a myriad of key investments and start-ups all combine to make up Tencent\u2019s world. You simply do not exist in China without some interaction with the company. Now, Bloomberg Asia correspondent Lulu Chen, who has covered China\u2019s tech sector for over a decade, unravels the history and strategies of Tencent in Influence Empire: The Story of Tencent and China\u2019s Tech Ambition<\/em> (Hodder & Stoughton), examines the company\u2019s battles with Didi, Meituan and Alibaba, and its decision-making at critical junctures and asks just what it takes to be a successful tech entrepreneur in China.<\/p>\n

Paul French met up (naturally over Tencent\u2019s WeChat) with Lulu Chen to discuss the book.<\/p>\n

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Can you give us a quick potted history of how Tencent came to be such a giant corporation with so many strings to its bow?<\/h4>\n

Tencent hit gold with social media in the desktop era. It became ingrained in peoples\u2019 lives with WeChat in the mobile age. Its founder Pony Ma was prescient enough to diversify the company\u2019s revenue stream early on, and that gave birth to its gaming business, which generated the bulk of the company\u2019s revenue and funded many new initiatives. The company\u2019s strategy to open up its ecosystem and invest in startups \u2013 instead of competing with everyone \u2013 helped it take stakes in businesses that became important in the mobile internet age, including ride-hailing service Didi<\/a> and food delivery platform Meituan.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s deep pockets and vast network of users also made it a powerful global investor. It enabled Tencent to take on a stake in Spotify, Tesla and Snapchat, and also invest in the biggest gaming companies in the world, including the maker of Fortnite.<\/p>\n