Facebook Completes Purchase of WhatsApp for $22 Billion
WhatsApp's Jewish co-founder Jan Koum, who grew up 'a rebellious little kid' in a poor village outside of Kiev, named to Facebook's board.
Facebook completed its purchase of the mobile messaging service WhatsApp for nearly $22 billion in cash and stock.
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The transaction was completed on Monday, Facebook paid about $ 2 billion more than when the deal was announced in February due to a rise in the price of Facebook shares.
Facebook named WhatsApp co-founder and CEO Jan Koum to its board Monday. Koum, 38, grew up a Jewish and “a rebellious little kid” in a poor village outside of Kiev, Wired reported in February. Koum and his mother immigrated to the United States when he was 16 to escape the “troubling political and anti-Semitic environment,” according to Forbes.
“I’ve also known Jan for a long time, and I know that we both share the vision of making the world more open and connected,” Zuckerberg, who also is Jewish, wrote on his Facebook page when the deal was first announced.
WhatsApp, a free mobile messaging service similar to texting, has more than 450 million users, with an additional million joining every day, according to reports. Users pay a $1 yearly fee to use the WhatsApp app; the first year is free.
Facebook said at the time that the purchase was announced that WhatsApp will continue to operate independently after the purchase.
The merger was approved by U.S. antitrust authorities in April, and by the European Union on Friday.
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