Whatsapp Accepts Facebook's $19 Billion Friend Request | TechTree.com

Whatsapp Accepts Facebook's $19 Billion Friend Request

Whatsapp will run independently post acquisition.

 

We all knew it was going to happen sooner or later. WhatsApp was growing from a messaging platform into a mini social network. It was more accessible and instantaneous than Facebook which is more of a big screen experience. The only way for Facebook to put an end to a competitor was to take over and that is exactly what Mark Zuckerberg has done.

For a messaging app, $19 billion is an insanely large amount. It makes Jan Koum, WhatsApp co-founder and CEO a very, very rich man (he will also join Facebook’s board of directors). WhatsApp has over 450 million monthly users, 70% of which are active every single day. It adds 1 million new registered users every day! The numbers are simply incredible!

But what we did not expect from the acquisition was that Facebook would let WhatsApp run independently. We are guessing that Jan Koum wanted to keep his baby intact and didn’t have plans to let go of it. This means, we will continue to see improvements on the platform in the years to come and not see it being merged with Facebook’s Messenger app (some features may see an exchange). The CEO also mentioned that even though ownership has switched hands, there will “absolutely no ads interrupting your communication”, which is what we think makes communication clutter-free on WhatsApp.

The acquisition involves $4 billion in cash, $12 billion in stock, and additional $3 billion in restricted stock.

 


TAGS: Apps, WhatsApp, Facebook

 
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