Tencent has reached $200 billion market capitalisation in Hong Kong-based trading last night, meaning that the Chinese social networking firm has overtaken Amazon in size.
The company has a presence in every aspect of the Chinese web market, from its popular messaging app QQ to the anonymous social media platform Whisper to an app that finds workers to clean peoples’ homes.
The market cap of more than $200 billion on Monday makes it more valuable than US tech firms like Amazon, IBM and Oracle.
The country’s biggest social networking and online entertainment firm rose 5.38 percent to close at HK$170.50 ($22) in trading in Hong Kong, giving it a market valuation of $206 billion. This is higher than Oracle’s $190 billion, Amazon’s $178 billion and IBM’s $161 billion.
Tencent has struck partnerships with both Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group to oversee digital distribution of the two majors’ catalogs in the country. The company also has a similar deal with Korea’s YG Entertainment, home of Kpop star Psy.
In March, BMG struck a similar deal with Alibaba, a chief rival of Tencent.
New York-listed Alibaba, the world’s largest e-commerce firm, has seen its shares slide 19 percent year-to-date. This slump owes itself to investor excitement wearing off after the firm’s record-setting $25 billion IPO last September, and a lacklustre set of third-quarter earnings results.