Social media giant Facebook has announced plans to acquire WhatsApp, a rapidly growing cross- platform mobile messaging company, for $19 billion in stock and cash. The acquisition will however, see WhatsApp run semi-independentally much like Instagram.
Facebook has posted on its blog, citing reasons behind the acquisition. The post states that the acquisition supports Facebook and WhatsApp's shared mission to bring more connectivity and utility to the world by delivering core internet services efficiently and affordably. The combination will help accelerate growth and user engagement across both companies.
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO, said that WhatsApp is on a path to connect 1 billion people. The services that reach that milestone are all incredibly valuable.
WhatsApp co-founder and CEO, Jan Koum posted on WhatsApp blogpost about the acquisition saying that "WhatsApp will remain autonomous and operate independently. You can continue to enjoy the service for a nominal fee. You can continue to use WhatsApp no matter where in the world you are, or what smartphone you're using. And you can still count on absolutely no ads interrupting your communication."
Facebook's acquisition move is bigger than Google, Apple or Microsoft has ever done. Google's biggest acquisition Motorola Mobility was at $12.5 billion while Microsoft's largest was Skype at $8.5 billion. Apple has never done a deal above $1 billion.
Here we list down reaction tweets from around the world on the big money acquisition of WhatsApp by Facebook.
WhatsApp cofounder was turned down after interviewing @ FB & Twitter in '09. He stayed positive & made hella lemonade
- Roy Rodenstein (@royrod) February 20, 2014
And here's the tweet from WhatsApp owner Brian Acton from 2009, when facebook had turned his offer down.
Facebook turned me down. It was a great opportunity to connect with some fantastic people. Looking forward to life's next adventure.
0 comments: