CEO · Founder, Whatsapp
| Role | Organisation | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Board Member (former) | about.fb.com, wired.com, investor.atmeta.com | |
| Board Member (former) | Meta (Facebook) | untaylored.com |
| CEO (former) · Founder | brandclickx.com, techreviewadvisor.com, untaylored.com, gadgets.beebom.com, about.fb.com, wired.com, The Guardian Australia - Technology, investor.atmeta.com |
Stories naming Jan Koum. 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.