The client application was created by WhatsApp Inc. of Mountain View, California, which was acquired by Facebook in February 2014 for approximately US$19.3 billion. It became the world’s most popular messaging application by 2015, and had more than 2 billion users worldwide by February 2020.
Is WhatsApp owned by Facebook?
The change comes about a year after WhatsApp started using Facebook’s name in the app to remind users that it is Facebook that owns the app.
Who currently owns WhatsApp?
Jan Koum was born and raised in Ukraine before he moved to the United States when he was 16 years old. Brian Acton grew up in Michigan. While many app developers were young college students, Koum and Acton were in their 30s while creating WhatsApp.
Has WhatsApp been sold to Mark Zuckerberg?
WhatsApp is Facebook’s largest-ever acquisition. The social networking giant will pay $4 billion in cash and $12 billion worth of shares for WhatsApp. But the ultimate cost of the deal is $19 billion, with WhatsApp employees and founders receiving an additional $3 billion in restricted stock units of Facebook.
Who bought Facebook 2021?
Meta Platforms
| Entrance to Meta’s headquarters complex (pictured in 2014 as Facebook Inc.) in Menlo Park, California | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Mark Zuckerberg (controlling shareholder) |
| Number of employees | 68,177 (September 30, 2021) |
| Divisions | Facebook Reality Labs |
| Subsidiaries | Novi Financial |
Why did FB acquire WhatsApp?
As per Porter’s 5 forces analysis, WhatsApp was becoming a threat of substitutes for the company. WhatsApp was growing steadily in its percentage of market reach beating out popular mobile apps. So, Facebook saw both vulnerability and opportunity in WhatsApp and acquired it for a whopping $19B in 2014.