Tencent’s founders tried to sell the company in 1999, and nobody would pay their price.
OICQ, their copy of the Israeli messenger ICQ, had a million users, no profit and rising server bills. The best offer was a fifth of the asking price. In 2001 Naspers, a South African media group, paid $32 million for 46.5 percent of Tencent. By 2018 that stake was worth $175 billion.
Tencent on Brandseum