WeChat owner Tencent investments in the United States and beyond

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U.S. President Donald Trump has issued an executive order banning U.S. transactions involving Chinese social media and video game leader Tencent Holdings Ltd, owner of messaging app WeChat, on national security grounds.

HONG KONG U.S. President Donald Trump has issued an executive order banning U.S. transactions involving Chinese social media and video game leader Tencent Holdings Ltd, owner of messaging app WeChat, on national security grounds.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is set to identify transactions covered by the order, which starts in 45 days.

Below is a list of some of Tencent’s biggest U.S. and international investments:

UNITED STATES

*Tesla Inc: Tencent bought 5% of the electric vehicle maker for $1.78 billion in 2017. Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk has called Tencent “an investor and adviser to Tesla”.

*Riot Games: Tencent bought a majority stake in the Los Angeles-based “League of Legends” game developer in 2011 and made it fully owned in 2015.

*Activision Blizzard Inc: Tencent has a minority stake in the owner of the “Call of Duty” franchise. Tencent last year launched “Call of Duty Mobile” and has seen 45 million downloads in the United States, Tower Sensor data showed.

*Epic Games: Tencent acquired a minority stake in 2012.

*Snap Inc: Tencent bought 12% of the messaging app operator in 2017.

*Reddit Inc: The social media platform raised $300 million in 2019 in a funding round led by Tencent resulting in a market valuation of $3 billion.

INTERNATIONAL

*Spotify Technology SA: The Swedish music streaming firm and Tencent Music Entertainment Group bought minority stakes in each other ahead of the former’s 2018 stock market listing in New York.

*Universal Music Group: French media conglomerate Vivendi SA in 2019 said it had finalised the sale of 10% of the world’s largest music label to a Tencent-led consortium, which also had the option to buy up to 10% more by January 2021 on the same price basis. The deal gave Tencent more access to U.S. artists such as Taylor Swift and Kanye West.

*U.S. listed firms: Tencent owns stakes in Bilibili Inc, Sogou Inc, Huya Inc, Douyu International Holdings Ltd, JD.com Inc, Pinduoduo Inc, Vipshop Holdings Ltd, Nio Inc and Futu Holdings Ltd.

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