Facebook's Latest Acquisition is WhatsApp! -

Facebook’s Latest Acquisition is WhatsApp!

20 February 2014

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In the wake of its unsuccessful $3 Billion takeover attempt of the ephemeral photo messaging app, Snapchat, Facebook has dished out a considerable amount of both cash and stock to successfully buy the cross-platform messaging company, WhatsApp.

$4 Billion in cash, $12 Billion in Facebook shares and an additional $3 billion in stock for WhatsApp employees is what it took for Mark Zuckerberg to sway Co-Founder and CEO, Jan Koum to hand over the reigns to the social behemoth. Much akin to its acquisition of Instagram, the WhatsApp brand will be maintained as a stand alone app without any sort of integration into Facebook’s Messenger app.

450 Million monthly active users
70% of whom are active on a daily basis
1 Million new users join each day

In its official announcement, Facebook founder Zuckerberg stated

“WhatsApp is on the path to connect 1 billion people. The services that reach that milestone are all incredibly valuable. I’ve known Jan for a long time and I’m excited to partner with him and his team to make the world more open and connected.”

Koum added

“WhatsApp’s extremely high user engagement and rapid growth are driven by the simple, powerful and instantaneous messaging capabilityies we provide. We’re excited and honored to partner with Mark and Facebook as we continue to bring our product to more people around the world.”

Would Facebook be happier having acquired WhatsApp or SnapChat?

Image Credit: WhatsApp & BusinessInsider

About Leon McLean

Leon McLean is a Project Manager and Trainer at SayItSocial, focusing on digital marketing strategy and project development as well as live, virtual and eLearning training initiatives. Please connect with Leon on... Google +