The articles mention that Cosmic Blue Investments Limited, a subsidiary of TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, and Tencent Holdings are major shareholders in several major Chinese Internet companies. For example, Cosmic Blue owns 7.1% of Zhihu and has 4.4% voting rights after its IPO. Tencent owns 11.1% of Zhihu after IPO. Tencent also has stakes in other companies like Kuaishou and Hybe. This shows these large Chinese Internet companies are interconnected through investments.
Cosmic Blue and Tencent both have high stakes in Zhihu
According to Zhihu’s IPO prospectus, Cosmic Blue Investments Limited owns 7.1% of Zhihu after its IPO listing in the US. This makes ByteDance one of the major shareholders. Tencent also owns 11.1% of Zhihu after IPO. The two companies both have significant stakes and voting power in Zhihu.
Tencent has invested in many other Chinese Internet companies
In addition to Zhihu, Tencent also owns stakes in other major Chinese internet companies. For example, it owns 5.9% of Kakao, a major South Korean internet company. It also has a stake in Hybe, the entertainment company behind boyband BTS. Tencent’s investments show how interconnected and entangled major Chinese internet companies are.
Cosmic Blue’s stake in Zhihu represents ByteDance’s ambitions
As TikTok and ByteDance’s parent company, ByteDance likely invested in Zhihu to expand its content and reach more users. Given TikTok’s explosive growth and ByteDance’s cash pile, we can expect to see more investments from Cosmic Blue and ByteDance as it aims to become an internet conglomerate.
In conclusion, major shareholders like Cosmic Blue and Tencent have high stakes in several major Chinese internet companies. Their investments represent both financial interests as well as strategic ambitions to tap growth opportunities in China’s vast consumer internet space.