Founder, Whatsapp
Stories naming Brian Acton. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
A retrospective explainer on WhatsApp's ownership: its 2009 founding, Meta's roughly $19 billion takeover in 2014, the founders' later departures, privacy disputes, and the app's scale and estimated value under Meta.
Explainer tracing WhatsApp's ownership: founded by Jan Koum and Brian Acton, bought by Facebook in 2014 for $19 billion, now a Meta platform earning through its Business API.
WIRED republishes its 2014 profile of WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum, covering his path from Ukraine to Silicon Valley, Sequoia's investments, and Facebook's $19 billion takeover, published as he departs over privacy disagreements.
Facebook has announced its biggest acquisition, buying messaging app WhatsApp for $19bn in cash and shares. The piece also recalls Google's reported $1bn bid, Facebook's failed Snapchat offer, and Google's Nest purchase.