
Technology in China
The general counsel of two of China’s largest public companies, Tencent and Xiaomi, speak to GC about business growth, challenges in the Chinese tech sector, leadership and the ever-changing role of the GC.
When Brent Irvin joined Tencent as group general counsel nearly nine years ago, the Chinese upstart company was already a domestic tech wunderkind, boasting revenue close to RMB 20bn. But few foresaw the trajectory it would take from there: with record growth in 2017, the company is now valued at more than $477bn.
‘We have always been about combining social and content, but in the beginning we were more games-focused,’ says Irvin.