book review
Making millions from Tencent
Without Naspers’s $32m investment in Tencent, it’s doubtful the Chinese company would have survived. But its success can in no small part also be credited to the efforts of its founder, Pony Ma. In Influence Empire, Bloomberg journalist Lulu Chen charts the meteoric rise of the tech firm
04 May 2023 - 05:00
For Naspers’s South African shareholders, based more than 11,000km from the heart of the action, Tencent seems like one of Michael Caine’s ducks, appearing to glide effortlessly and almost regally through the competitive waters. From this distance there is no sign of the intense paddling going on just below the surface.
In Influence Empire, Bloomberg journalist Lulu Yilun Chen provides some fascinating insight into just how much crazy paddling was involved in creating Tencent and then ensuring it remained at the cutting edge of the global tech industry for the next 25 years...
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