TIP695: The Story of Tencent: China's Tech Behemoth w/ Clay Finck

We Study Billionaires - The Investor’s Podcast Network

Stig Brodersen

Education, Investing, Business

4.6 • 3.6K Ratings

🗓️ 31 January 2025

⏱️ 71 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

While the mainstream headlines often focus on the Magnificent Seven, we’re diving into a global powerhouse that often flies under the radar — Tencent. Based in Shenzhen, China, Tencent is a giant in gaming, social media, and cloud services. From the creation of WeChat—a super-app with over a billion monthly users—to investments in companies like Tesla, Spotify, and Snapchat, Tencent’s story is one of relentless innovation and strategic dominance. Since its IPO in 2004, shares of Tencent have increased by nearly 500 times, producing an average annual return of 35% per year. To help cover the story of Tencent, Clay will be sharing what he learned from the book Influence Empire by Lulu Chen. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: 00:00 - Intro 01:54 - Tencent’s journey from IPO to becoming a global tech powerhouse. 05:28 - Lessons from Pony Ma’s leadership and Tencent’s strategic vision. 18:33 - How Tencent’s investments shaped global tech innovation and growth. 31:12 - The evolution and impact of WeChat as a transformative super-app. 49:11 - Insights into Tencent’s dominance in the gaming industry. 57:15 - Challenges of navigating Chinese regulations and political risks. 01:08:47 - Tencent’s role in AI, cloud services, and strategic share buybacks. And so much more! Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due to podcast platform differences. BOOKS AND RESOURCES Join the exclusive TIP Mastermind Community to engage in meaningful stock investing discussions with Stig, Clay, Kyle, and the other community members. Chen’s book: Influence Empire. Email Shawn at [email protected] to attend our free events in Omaha or visit this page. Related Episode: Listen to TIP661: Betting Big on China & Lessons from Bear Markets w/ Richard Lawrence. Related Episode: Listen to TIP636: Billionaire Investing Legend Li Lu w/ Clay Finck. Related Episode: Listen to TIP682: Buffett's Early Investments. Follow Clay on Twitter. Check out all the books mentioned and discussed in our podcast episodes here. Enjoy ad-free episodes when you subscribe to our Premium Feed. NEW TO THE SHOW? Get smarter about valuing businesses in just a few minutes each week through our newsletter, The Intrinsic Value Newsletter. Check out our We Study Billionaires Starter Packs. Follow our official social media accounts: X (Twitter) | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok. Browse through all our episodes (complete with transcripts) here. Try our tool for picking stock winners and managing our portfolios: TIP Finance Tool. Enjoy exclusive perks from our favorite Apps and Services. Learn how to better start, manage, and grow your business with the best business podcasts. SPONSORS Support our free podcast by supporting our sponsors: Found Netsuite Unchained Vanta The Bitcoin Way Fintool PrizePicks TurboTax HELP US OUT! Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a rating and review on Spotify! It takes less than 30 seconds, and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it! Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://theinvestorspodcastnetwork.supportingcast.fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://theinvestorspodcastnetwork.supportingcast.fm

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to TIP.
0:02.8	Hey everyone, welcome to the Investors podcast.
0:05.6	I'm your host, Clay Fink.
0:07.4	While the mainstream headlines often focus on the magnificent seven in the big tech giants,
0:12.2	we're diving into the global powerhouse that often flies under the radar, Tencent.
0:16.7	Since its IPO in 2004, shares of Tencent have increased by nearly 500 times, producing an average
0:23.2	annual return of 35% per year.
0:26.2	Based in Shenzhen, China, Tensen is a giant in gaming, social media, and cloud services.
0:32.2	From the creation of WeChat, a super app with over 1 billion users, to investments in
0:36.6	companies like Tesla, Spotify, and Snapchat,
0:39.3	Tencent's story is one of relentless innovation and strategic dominance.
0:43.3	But what's truly fascinating is its founder, Pony Ma, whose low-profile leadership starkly contrasts
0:49.3	his rival, Jack Maugh from Alibaba.
0:52.3	Today, we'll explore Tencent's meteoric rise, its cultural and political
0:56.2	challenges, and how it managed to shape China's digital landscape. To help me do so, I'll be sharing
1:01.9	the lessons I learned from the book, Influence Empire by Lu-Lu Chen, in discussing the risks and opportunities
1:08.0	of investing in a company so intertwined with the Chinese government.
1:11.8	And just a quick disclaimer, I wanted to mention that there's plenty of commentary in the book
1:15.4	about the CCP and the geopolitics between the US and China.
1:19.1	The purpose of what's shared here in the episode isn't to push any political agenda, but
1:23.2	to try and shed light on what's most important in this regard for us as investors.
1:27.7	With that, let's get right to it.
	...

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