{"id":12961,"date":"2024-01-08T08:35:10","date_gmt":"2024-01-08T07:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ceoinfluencers.com\/?p=12961"},"modified":"2024-01-08T08:35:10","modified_gmt":"2024-01-08T07:35:10","slug":"was-whatsapp-sold-to-mark-zuckerberg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ceoinfluencers.com\/was-whatsapp-sold-to-mark-zuckerberg\/","title":{"rendered":"Was Whatsapp Sold To Mark Zuckerberg"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For most people in the tech community, the story of Mark Zuckerberg and WhatsApp is one of legend — a tale of the debonaire, young tech-genius CEO and his stunning acquisition of the messaging platform. But to understand the deal, and the sequence of events leading up to it, it’s important to look beyond the legend and examine the specifics of the situation. <\/p>\n

WhatsApp was founded in 2009 by internet entrepreneurs Jan Koum and Brian Acton. It was one of the first messaging apps that relied exclusively on data plans, allowing it to bypass standard SMS or MMS fees. Its success was greater than its founders could have ever expected, and it eventually became the single most popular messaging app in the world. In 2014, WhatsApp boasted 500 million daily active users and was sent and received more than 32 billion mobile messages every day. <\/p>\n

Mark Zuckerberg had long been interested in WhatsApp. In fact, Zuckerberg had kept in touch with WhatsApp’s founders since the early days of the app, at one point even inviting Koum to join him in California. Many in the tech world viewed Zuckerberg’s relationship with WhatsApp as a potential acquisition, which came to fruition on February 19, 2014, when Facebook announced that it would be purchasing the messaging platform for a reported $19 billion.<\/p>\n

The acquisition was met with both excitement and criticism. Many believed that Zuckerberg had greatly overpaid for the app and feared for WhatsApp’s potential as part of Facebook’s larger infrastructure. Regardless, the deal was seen as a win for Koum and Acton, who made billions of dollars in just four years of starting the app. On the other hand, Facebook was able to leverage WhatsApp’s data and userbase in order to expand its reach and create an even larger platform.<\/p>\n