You can do almost anything you
want now on just one single device. But in China, well, you can do almost
anything you want on just one single app. And the company behind
it all is Tencent. Not only is it China's biggest social network, but
it's the largest gaming company in the world. And now it's the fifth largest
internet company on the planet. It's joined Apple, Amazon, and Facebook
on the list of massive tech companies that have passed $500 billion dollars in market cap,
making it Asia's first company to do this. Just a day later, Tencent actually
surpassed Facebook in market value. So what's behind this massive
conglomerate coming out of China? Tencent is a Chinese investment holding conglomerate
with many, many, many subsidiaries. They include social networks,
payment systems, media, entertainment, smartphones, e-commerce, property, advertising.
And there’s still more. The company's stock is up
more than 11,000 percent since it went public in 2004 on the
Hong Kong Stock Exchange. And if you have ever said the words, "Wouldn't it
be nice if there was an app that could..." Chances are, Tencent
already has it. At the center of the giant conglomerate is one app, Weixin, known as WeChat outside of China. Think of it like a Facebook meets WhatsApp, meets
Venmo, and CandyCrush, and Tinder, and Amazon. And then there's
still other functions like booking a doctor's appointment, or finding
out how densely crowded a location is. The number of people on WeChat is
now closing in on one billion users. So how did WeChat
become so popular? You often hear about
the mobile-first markets. In the U.S., back in 1999, there were about 50
computers for every 100 people. In China, there was about one
computer for every 100 people. That means most people in China first became
acquainted with the internet through this device. Fast forward to today, where the total number
of mobile users is approaching the same number of total internet users. Now, using an email
address is pretty rare for Chinese consumers. The preferred way to communicate is
chat apps. And it's not just for friends and family. It's a common way for people to do business, using
the app with colleagues and even strangers, too. If you go back to the early 2000s, you'll see
Tencent anticipated chat apps' popularity. And it's paid off. Ma Huateng and his co-founders started Tencent
in Shenzhen, China's tech capital, back in 1998. The company was created to meet the
demand of China's growing internet cafes, and made most of its early money from online
games and a text messaging service. Now, Ma Huateng is the country's second
richest man and worth an estimated $42.3 billion. That's more than the founders of Google,
making him the world's ninth richest man. And he can thank Tencent's
enormous footprint for that wealth. Tencent has acquired and invested in so many companies, it's almost impossible to figure out where it starts
and where it ends. First, there's the social networks.
In addition to WeChat, there's QQ, with more than 861 million monthly active users.
For some perspective, that's more than Instagram. Then there's the multiple
digital payment platforms it claims and WeChat Pay may be its
first foray outside of China. Entertainment is also a big part of it. Tencent is actually the biggest computer game publisher in the world, bigger than U.S. game publisher
EA Arts and Activision Blizzard combined. And if that's not enough, there's its information
and news portals, its cloud providers, and its recent move
into artificial intelligence too. Like its rival Alibaba, Tencent now has its
eyes beyond China's 1.4 billion people. The company has invested in American companies
including tech juggernauts Tesla and Snapchat. And it's even invested in companies that
are testing out flying cars and asteroid mining. The company announced it will roll out its
WeChat payment services in Malaysia after it gained an
e-payment license. It's the first time the company has gained a
license like this to expand outside of China. Tencent is also planning to get its massively
popular video game, King of Glory, into the U.S. As it's known, Western companies
have a hard time getting into China. But things aren’t much easier, for Chinese internet companies trying to expand globally. But if Tencent continues to grow and
break records at its current pace, well, it could put it head-to-head with
some of Silicon Valley’s biggest names.
That video gave me a boner. I've got some of this shit but clearly not enough. Long Chinamen.
This was nice to watch after TECHY took a shit today. Long Tencent.
I'm Long 55 shares. Down about 6% because I bought early Feb.
If you watch this movie you feel like you should go all in. but it doesnt seem to work.
I see they invest in snapchat, - short 10c
I AM short snapchat. It hurts today