Tencent’s backing boosts Musk’s Model 3

5% stake — $1.8 billion in shares — helps Tesla introduce lower-priced car

Tesla won a vote of confidence from Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings, whose purchase of a 5 percent stake boosts Elon Musk’s ambitions to get his mass-market Model 3 electric sedan to buyers this year.

Tencent paid about $1.8 billion for shares bought on the open market and from Tesla’s stock offering earlier this month, according to a regulatory filing. The sale of equity and debt padded Tesla’s coffers as Musk spends heavily on introducing the lower-priced Model 3.

“Glad to have Tencent as an investor and adviser to Tesla,” Musk tweeted Tuesday.

In buying the Tesla stake, Tencent is adding to existing investments in technologies that are reshaping the auto industry, including ride-hailing apps and the maps and artificial intelligence needed for driverless cars. The owner of the WeChat messaging platform could also help Musk, 45, gain more of a foothold in China, the world’s largest auto market. Tesla shares rose, approaching a record high.

“Having Tencent as a partner helps position Tesla to launch the Model 3 in China,” said Joseph Fath, a fund manager at T. Rowe Price, Tesla’s fourthlargest shareholder. “Tencent

is one of the three superpowers in China along with Baidu and Alibaba, and they clearly have a lot of backing from the government.”

Tencent Chairman Ma Huateng said earlier this month he envisions his company developing AI technology for driverless cars in the future. The Shenzhen-based company is one of the biggest investors in Chinese ride-sharing giant Didi Chuxing and owns stakes in mapmakers NavInfo Co. and HERE, the German consortium owned by BMW AG, Audi AG and Daimler AG.

Tencent also is a backer of NextEV Inc., the electric-car startup owned by Chinese internet entrepreneur William Li. While Tencent has cooperated with companies it has invested in previously, there are no detailed plans for cooperation with Tesla at the moment, according to an emailed statement.

“Elon Musk is the archetype for entrepreneurship, combining vision, ambition, and execution,” Tencent said in the email. “Tesla is a global pioneer at the forefront of new technologies including electric vehicles, assisted driving, shared vehicles, digitizing real-world information, sustainable energy generation and scalable energy storage.”

Shares of Palo Alto-based Tesla rose 7.23 to close at $277.45 in Tuesday’s trading, a 2.68 percent jump. The stock’s record closing price was $286.04 in September 2014.