Mubasher: China's biggest social network and gaming firm Tencent is now worth more than Facebook, after shares of Tencent closed 2.4% higher in the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong on Tuesday.
The social media giant is valued at around $522 billion, while Facebook is currently worth a little over $519 billion, according to CNN report .
Tencent's share price more than doubled this year, garnering great interest from investors.
However, Facebook is still the world's most popular social network, with around two billion users worldwide.
On the other hand, the Chinese gaming and social media company is little known outside China, even though WeChat has close to one billion users, the reported highlighted.
The Chinese government blocks rivals such as Google, Facebook and Twitter, giving further competitive edge to Tencent.
Tencent is also diversifying its investments worldwide, after acquiring a 12% stake of Snapchat parent Snap Inc earlier this year, as well as a 5% share in Tesla, the electric car manufacturer that recently revealed its new Roadster model, which will be the fastest mass production car ever, according to the company’s chairman and CEO Elon Musk.
It is also worth noting that Tencent is the first Chinese company to pass the $500 billion market capitalization mark.
According to the Telegraph, the seven-biggest listed firms in the world by market capitalisation are now all internet or technology companies, followed by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway as the first non-technology stock.
Tencent still has a long way to catch up with other Silicon Valley titans, CNN noted.
Apple is currently worth $870 billion, followed by Google's parent company Alphabet that has a stock market value of $710 billion, while Amazon has a market capitalization of $543 billion.
