# Sea Ltd
**Sea Ltd** (NYSE: SE) is a Singapore-headquartered global technology company founded in 2009 that operates three linked businesses: Garena (digital games), Shopee (e-commerce), and Monee (digital financial services, rebranded from SeaMoney in May 2025).[1](https://cdn.sea.com/investor/4Q2025/JcKns4LaJC8bxcQdJwXz/2026.03.03%20Sea%20Fourth%20Quarter%20and%20Full%20Year%202025%20Results.pdf) • [2](https://digitalinasia.com/sea-group-full-ecosystem/) Shopee is the largest pan-regional e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan (China), and claims market leadership in Brazil, and in 2025 the company reported US$22.9 billion in revenue and US$1.6 billion in net income.[1](https://cdn.sea.com/investor/4Q2025/JcKns4LaJC8bxcQdJwXz/2026.03.03%20Sea%20Fourth%20Quarter%20and%20Full%20Year%202025%20Results.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2009 in Singapore as Garena; renamed Sea Ltd in May 2017; Shopee launched 2015[3](https://theteardown.co/sea) • [4](https://www.popularfintech.com/p/it-started-with-a-game-sea-limited-fintech-a6a97650f0ca900d) |
| FY2025 scale | Revenue US$22.9 billion (+36.4%); net income US$1.6 billion; 102,700 employees[1](https://cdn.sea.com/investor/4Q2025/JcKns4LaJC8bxcQdJwXz/2026.03.03%20Sea%20Fourth%20Quarter%20and%20Full%20Year%202025%20Results.pdf) • [5](https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/61255-09) |
| Shopee 2025 | GMV US$127.4 billion (+26.8%); ~400 million active buyers; 20 million sellers[1](https://cdn.sea.com/investor/4Q2025/JcKns4LaJC8bxcQdJwXz/2026.03.03%20Sea%20Fourth%20Quarter%20and%20Full%20Year%202025%20Results.pdf) |
| Monee loans | US$11.1 billion outstanding at June 2026 (+62.5% YoY); 90-day NPL ratio 1.0%[6](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1703399/000119312526344596/d120948dex991.htm) |
| Founder control | Forrest Li holds ~57.6% of voting power via Class B shares carrying 15 votes each, against roughly 16% of the economics[7](https://gameindustrylibrary.com/documents/sea-limited-20-f-fy2025-april-2026) • [3](https://theteardown.co/sea) |
| Gaming engine | Free Fire drew over 100 million average daily active users in 2026; Garena FY2025 bookings US$2.9 billion[6](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1703399/000119312526344596/d120948dex991.htm) • [1](https://cdn.sea.com/investor/4Q2025/JcKns4LaJC8bxcQdJwXz/2026.03.03%20Sea%20Fourth%20Quarter%20and%20Full%20Year%202025%20Results.pdf) |
| Liquidity | US$6.4 billion cash and cash equivalents at year-end 2025[7](https://gameindustrylibrary.com/documents/sea-limited-20-f-fy2025-april-2026) |
## What each business does
**Garena** is the original business. Founded in 2009, it licensed and published global titles such as [League of Legends](https://www.edgepedia.org/league-of-legends) and [Call of Duty: Mobile](https://www.edgepedia.org/call-of-duty-mobile) across Southeast Asia, then produced its own 2017 game [Free Fire](https://www.edgepedia.org/free-fire-video-game), which became one of the world's most downloaded mobile games.[4](https://www.popularfintech.com/p/it-started-with-a-game-sea-limited-fintech-a6a97650f0ca900d) In 2024 Free Fire was the world's largest mobile game by average daily active users, above 100 million, up 28% year on year.[8](https://www.alphaspread.com/security/nyse/se/investor-relations/earnings-call/q4-2024) Garena's FY2025 bookings reached US$2.9 billion with adjusted EBITDA of US$1.7 billion, and quarterly active users stood at 633.3 million in Q4 2025.[1](https://cdn.sea.com/investor/4Q2025/JcKns4LaJC8bxcQdJwXz/2026.03.03%20Sea%20Fourth%20Quarter%20and%20Full%20Year%202025%20Results.pdf)
**Shopee** is the e-commerce marketplace, launched in 2015. It held approximately 52% of Southeast Asian platform e-commerce GMV in 2024 (US$66.8 billion of platform GMV, per Momentum Works data), and is the market leader in all seven of Sea's Asian markets.[2](https://digitalinasia.com/sea-group-full-ecosystem/) • [8](https://www.alphaspread.com/security/nyse/se/investor-relations/earnings-call/q4-2024) In 2025 it served around 400 million active buyers and 20 million sellers, with GMV of US$127.4 billion.[1](https://cdn.sea.com/investor/4Q2025/JcKns4LaJC8bxcQdJwXz/2026.03.03%20Sea%20Fourth%20Quarter%20and%20Full%20Year%202025%20Results.pdf) Its logistics arm, SPX Express (launched 2018), processes on average over 30 million parcels every day.[10](https://cdn.sea.com/investor/3Q2025/VCQyb53nURvpodOR3CpG/2025.11.11%20Sea%20Third%20Quarter%202025%20Earnings%20Call%20Transcript.pdf)
**Monee** (SeaMoney until 8 May 2025) provides consumer and SME lending, payments through ShopeePay, and licensed digital banks MariBank in Singapore and SeaBank in Indonesia and the Philippines.[2](https://digitalinasia.com/sea-group-full-ecosystem/) Its consumer and SME loans principal outstanding reached US$11.1 billion by June 2026, up 62.5% year on year, with a 90-day non-performing-loan ratio of 1.0%.[6](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1703399/000119312526344596/d120948dex991.htm) In 2025 it gained over 20 million unique first-time borrowers.[1](https://cdn.sea.com/investor/4Q2025/JcKns4LaJC8bxcQdJwXz/2026.03.03%20Sea%20Fourth%20Quarter%20and%20Full%20Year%202025%20Results.pdf)
## How the three businesses interlock
The three units form a funding and data flywheel on a shared Southeast Asian user base. Between 2019 and 2023, Garena generated over US$8 billion in adjusted EBITDA while e-commerce and fintech burned through nearly the same amount; by 2024 Shopee posted US$156 million of positive adjusted EBITDA and Monee US$712 million.[4](https://www.popularfintech.com/p/it-started-with-a-game-sea-limited-fintech-a6a97650f0ca900d) About half of SeaMoney's loan book across Asian markets came from off-Shopee loans by end-2024, and by end-2025 off-Shopee SPayLater loans had grown over 300% year on year, accounting for over 15% of the SPayLater portfolio in Malaysia.[8](https://www.alphaspread.com/security/nyse/se/investor-relations/earnings-call/q4-2024) • [9](https://finviz.com/news/328607/sea-limited-q4-2025-earnings-conference-call) ShopeePay operates as connective tissue, with a standalone app launched in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia.[10](https://cdn.sea.com/investor/3Q2025/VCQyb53nURvpodOR3CpG/2025.11.11%20Sea%20Third%20Quarter%202025%20Earnings%20Call%20Transcript.pdf) A peer-reviewed review identifies Shopee as an example of a super app built around e-commerce as its core functionality.[11](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/23311975.2026.2698117)
The revenue mix shows how far the company has moved from its gaming origins: in 2014 digital entertainment made up 96% of revenue; by 2024 it was 11%, with e-commerce at 74% and digital financial services at 14%.[4](https://www.popularfintech.com/p/it-started-with-a-game-sea-limited-fintech-a6a97650f0ca900d)
## By the numbers
Segment revenue over 2021 to 2025 (US$ billions):[12](https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/SEA-LIMITED-38150303/finances-segments/)
| Segment | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E-commerce (Shopee) | 5.12 | 7.29 | 9.0 | 12.42 | 16.56 |
| Digital financial services (Monee) | 0.47 | 1.22 | 1.76 | 2.37 | 3.79 |
| Digital entertainment (Garena) | 4.32 | 3.88 | 2.17 | 1.91 | 2.41 |
Shopee's segment operating income swung from a US$2.77 billion loss in 2021 to a US$581 million profit in 2025.[12](https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/SEA-LIMITED-38150303/finances-segments/) Company net income went from US$162.7 million in 2023 to US$447.8 million in 2024 and US$1.6 billion in 2025, with adjusted EBITDA of US$3.4 billion (+75%).[13](https://www.moneycontroller.co.uk/finance-news/sea-ltd/sea-limited-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2024-results-form-6-k-2748707) • [9](https://finviz.com/news/328607/sea-limited-q4-2025-earnings-conference-call) Monee's consumer and SME loans principal outstanding grew from US$5.1 billion at end-2024 to US$7.9 billion at September 2025 and US$11.1 billion at June 2026, while the 90-day NPL ratio stayed between 1.0% and 1.2%.[13](https://www.moneycontroller.co.uk/finance-news/sea-ltd/sea-limited-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2024-results-form-6-k-2748707) • [14](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251110762666/en/Sea-Limited-Reports-Third-Quarter-2025-Results) • [6](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1703399/000119312526344596/d120948dex991.htm)
## Competition in Southeast Asia and Brazil
Shopee's main regional rivals are Lazada, TikTok Shop, and [Tokopedia](https://www.edgepedia.org/tokopedia). By 2023 Shopee's Southeast Asia GMV of about US$55.1 billion was roughly three times Lazada's US$18.8 billion.[15](https://techiq.substack.com/p/deep-dive-11-sea-limited-se-the-technologist) [TikTok Shop](https://www.edgepedia.org/tiktok-shop) reached an estimated US$16 billion GMV in the region in 2023, essentially tying Tokopedia for second place; TikTok's December 2023 deal invested US$1.5 billion for a controlling 75.01% of a joint venture with GoTo's Tokopedia, giving it instant scale in Indonesia, Shopee's biggest market.[15](https://techiq.substack.com/p/deep-dive-11-sea-limited-se-the-technologist) • [3](https://theteardown.co/sea) TikTok Shop plus Tokopedia have since closed to 65.7% of Shopee's GMV, and in Vietnam TikTok Shop climbed to over 41% share in 2025 (from about 24% in 2023) against Shopee's roughly 56%.[3](https://theteardown.co/sea) Temu was banned in Indonesia and faces regulatory hurdles in Vietnam.[3](https://theteardown.co/sea)
In Brazil, where Shopee marked five years in 2025 claiming market leadership by order volume and profitability, its GMV reached approximately 60 billion BRL in 2024, twice Amazon Brazil's and roughly 40% of Mercado Libre Brazil's; Mercado Livre responded by cutting fees roughly 40% on mid-priced items and slashing free-shipping thresholds.[16](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250811347836/en/Sea-Limited-Reports-Second-Quarter-2025-Results) • [2](https://digitalinasia.com/sea-group-full-ecosystem/) • [3](https://theteardown.co/sea)
Against listed peers, MercadoLibre's 2024 net revenue was US$20.8 billion with US$1.9 billion net profit, versus Sea's US$16.8 billion revenue and US$0.45 billion profit; Grab's 2024 revenue was about US$2.8 billion.[15](https://techiq.substack.com/p/deep-dive-11-sea-limited-se-the-technologist) The regional market context is large and growing: Southeast Asia's digital economy was on track to surpass US$300 billion in GMV in 2025, with video commerce reaching about 25% of e-commerce GMV, up from under 5% in 2022.[17](https://www.finews.asia/images/download/Embargoed_till_11_Nov_11.15am_SGT_e-Conomy_SEA_Report_2025.pdf)
## Regulation and geopolitics
India banned Free Fire in 2022, erasing a market of more than 40 million daily players; Free Fire's monthly revenue fell over 60% from its peak and bookings dropped 38% year on year.[3](https://theteardown.co/sea) Indonesia banned TikTok's e-commerce operations in October 2023, citing the need to protect local businesses, in Indonesia, Shopee's biggest market.[15](https://techiq.substack.com/p/deep-dive-11-sea-limited-se-the-technologist) • [3](https://theteardown.co/sea) Indonesia's financial regulator OJK issued POJK 32/2025, effective December 2025, tightening buy-now-pay-later governance with minimum borrower income criteria; industry-wide Indonesian BNPL non-performing financing rose from 2.99% to 3.37% in a single month.[3](https://theteardown.co/sea) Sea settled a US$40 million securities class action in August 2025 over allegations it concealed deteriorating intra-quarter user metrics ahead of India's Free Fire ban, with a separate US$46 million settlement pending.[2](https://digitalinasia.com/sea-group-full-ecosystem/) The company also uses variable interest entity structures that regulators could challenge or force to be restructured.[7](https://gameindustrylibrary.com/documents/sea-limited-20-f-fy2025-april-2026)
**Tencent's exit from control.** Tencent, an early strategic shareholder, cut its Sea stake from 21.3% to 18.7% in January 2022, converted its supervoting shares, terminated its proxy agreement and reduced its voting power to under 10%.[3](https://theteardown.co/sea) As of March 2025 Tencent owned 18.5% of issued shares with no voting power.[5](https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/61255-09) The Riot Games publishing partnership, under which Garena had published League of Legends and [Teamfight Tactics](https://www.edgepedia.org/teamfight-tactics) in Southeast Asia for 12 years, ended in January 2023.[2](https://digitalinasia.com/sea-group-full-ecosystem/)
## Governance and the share-price cycle
[Forrest Li](https://www.edgepedia.org/forrest-li), Sea's founder, chair, and CEO, holds concentrated control through a dual-class structure in which each Class B share carries 15 votes. The FY2025 Form 20-F reports him with 57.6% of total voting power; a January 2026 filing puts the figure at about 57.7%, and PitchBook recorded 59.1% as of March 2025, against roughly 16% of the economic interest.[7](https://gameindustrylibrary.com/documents/sea-limited-20-f-fy2025-april-2026) • [3](https://theteardown.co/sea) • [5](https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/61255-09)
The share price has traced the profit cycle. In August 2020 Sea was Singapore's most valuable public company at roughly US$69 billion market capitalization, its shares having more than tripled that year.[18](https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkang/2020/08/19/forrest-lis-sea-ltd-surges-as-pandemic-drives-digitalization-across-asean/) The stock then fell about 90% from its 2021 peak, accompanied by roughly 7,000 layoffs, before all three units reached profitability by 2024 to 2025.[3](https://theteardown.co/sea) It peaked above US$199 in late 2025 and sold off after Q4 2025 results in March 2026, when Q4 EPS of US$0.63 missed the US$0.80 consensus; market capitalization was roughly US$52.8 billion in early May 2026.[2](https://digitalinasia.com/sea-group-full-ecosystem/)
## Recent developments
The turnaround is the headline change. Sea went from a US$213.8 million Shopee adjusted-EBITDA loss in 2023 to positive adjusted EBITDA in both Asia and Brazil in 2024, its first full year of e-commerce profitability, and in 2025 all three segments were profitable.[13](https://www.moneycontroller.co.uk/finance-news/sea-ltd/sea-limited-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2024-results-form-6-k-2748707) • [3](https://theteardown.co/sea) SeaMoney was rebranded Monee in May 2025, with plans to expand beyond credit into digital banking and insurance.[2](https://digitalinasia.com/sea-group-full-ecosystem/) • [19](https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/sea-q4-earnings-72-9-us410-9-million-targets-25-gmv-growth-shopee) AI initiatives have produced measurable results: AI-generated content tools drove a 14% improvement in Shopee's purchase conversion rate in Q1 2026, and Sea signed an MOU with Google on agentic AI infrastructure including Monee's participation in Google's Agent Payments Protocol.[20](https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/sea-reports-6-2-increase-q1-earnings-us427-9-million) • [2](https://digitalinasia.com/sea-group-full-ecosystem/) For 2026, management targets around 25% Shopee GMV growth with a US$1 billion Shopee adjusted-EBITDA milestone.[1](https://cdn.sea.com/investor/4Q2025/JcKns4LaJC8bxcQdJwXz/2026.03.03%20Sea%20Fourth%20Quarter%20and%20Full%20Year%202025%20Results.pdf) • [21](https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2026/08/11/sea-limited-se-q2-2026-earnings-call-transcript/)
## References
1. [Sea Limited Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results (Sea investor relations)](https://cdn.sea.com/investor/4Q2025/JcKns4LaJC8bxcQdJwXz/2026.03.03%20Sea%20Fourth%20Quarter%20and%20Full%20Year%202025%20Results.pdf)
2. [Sea Group: Gaming, E-Commerce, and Fintech Under One Roof (Digital in Asia)](https://digitalinasia.com/sea-group-full-ecosystem/)
3. [Sea Limited — The Teardown](https://theteardown.co/sea)
4. [It started with a game — Sea Limited (Popular Fintech)](https://www.popularfintech.com/p/it-started-with-a-game-sea-limited-fintech-a6a97650f0ca900d)
5. [Sea — PitchBook Company Profile](https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/61255-09)
6. [Sea Limited Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results (SEC Exhibit 99.1)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1703399/000119312526344596/d120948dex991.htm)
7. [Sea Limited Form 20-F FY2025 (Game Industry Library summary)](https://gameindustrylibrary.com/documents/sea-limited-20-f-fy2025-april-2026)
8. [Sea Ltd Q4 2024 Earnings Call Transcript (AlphaSpread)](https://www.alphaspread.com/security/nyse/se/investor-relations/earnings-call/q4-2024)
9. [Sea Limited Q4 2025 Earnings Conference Call (Finviz)](https://finviz.com/news/328607/sea-limited-q4-2025-earnings-conference-call)
10. [Q3 2025 Earnings Prepared Remarks (Sea investor relations)](https://cdn.sea.com/investor/3Q2025/VCQyb53nURvpodOR3CpG/2025.11.11%20Sea%20Third%20Quarter%202025%20Earnings%20Call%20Transcript.pdf)
11. [One app for everything: a multidisciplinary review of super apps (Cogent Business & Management)](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/23311975.2026.2698117)
12. [Sea Limited: Business Segments and Geographical Breakdown of Revenue (MarketScreener)](https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/SEA-LIMITED-38150303/finances-segments/)
13. [Sea Limited Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Results (Form 6-K)](https://www.moneycontroller.co.uk/finance-news/sea-ltd/sea-limited-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2024-results-form-6-k-2748707)
14. [Sea Limited Reports Third Quarter 2025 Results (Business Wire)](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251110762666/en/Sea-Limited-Reports-Third-Quarter-2025-Results)
15. [Deep Dive 11: Sea Limited (SE) — The Technologist (TechIQ Substack)](https://techiq.substack.com/p/deep-dive-11-sea-limited-se-the-technologist)
16. [Sea Limited Reports Second Quarter 2025 Results (Business Wire)](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250811347836/en/Sea-Limited-Reports-Second-Quarter-2025-Results)
17. [e-Conomy SEA 2025 (Google/Temasek/Bain)](https://www.finews.asia/images/download/Embargoed_till_11_Nov_11.15am_SGT_e-Conomy_SEA_Report_2025.pdf)
18. [Forrest Li's Sea Ltd Surges As Pandemic Drives Digitalization Across ASEAN (Forbes)](https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkang/2020/08/19/forrest-lis-sea-ltd-surges-as-pandemic-drives-digitalization-across-asean/)
19. [Sea Q4 earnings up 72.9% at US$410.9 million (The Business Times)](https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/sea-q4-earnings-72-9-us410-9-million-targets-25-gmv-growth-shopee)
20. [Sea reports 6.2% increase in Q1 earnings to US$427.9 million (The Business Times)](https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/sea-reports-6-2-increase-q1-earnings-us427-9-million)
21. [Sea Limited (SE) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript (The Motley Fool)](https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2026/08/11/sea-limited-se-q2-2026-earnings-call-transcript/)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Economics and business › Business and work › Business and work overview › Companies and corporations › Technology and internet companies*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 10, 2026 · Edited: Oct 10, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 10, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license