Facebook acquires WhatsApp for $19 Billion

In a sudden announcement that has shocked the technology world, Facebook has announced that it will acquire the popular instant messenger WhatsApp for $19 billion. The news has come up all of a sudden and this is by far the biggest acquisition of Facebook after Instagram which was acquired by the social networking giant for $1 billion.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

/ by Ritij Khurana

In a sudden announcement that has shocked the technology world, Facebook has announced that it will acquire the popular instant messenger WhatsApp for $19 billion. The news has come up all of a sudden and this is by far the biggest acquisition of Facebook after Instagram which was acquired by the social networking giant for $1 billion.

WhatsApp

The deal will result in transfer of $12 billion worth of Facebook shares, $4 billion in cash and the $3 billion will be granted as restricted stock units to WhatsApp's employees and founder with a vesting period of 4 years. Under the deal, WhatsApp co-founder and CEO Jan Koum become a part of Facebook Board of Directors.

Facebook has stated that it will not interfere in the working of WhatsApp and its about 50 employees and headquarters will remain as it is in California's Mountain View.

"WhatsApp is on a path to connect one 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," is what Zuckerberg had to say regarding the acquisition.

WhatsApp currently has about 450 million monthly active users and 320 million users are active daily on the messenger. Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp will operate independently and won't hamper each other's growth. Facebook and WhatsApp are the two social phenomenons that connect people with each other to a wide extent globally. With the partnership coming in, your personal and social life are all set to be connected in a better manner. 

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