Facebook shared a blog post announcing the acquisition of Whatsapp. Facebook is acquiring Whatsapp for $12 billion worth of facebook shares and $4 billion cash and also another $3 billion in restricted stock units for the founders and employees retention.
Whatsapp is rapidly growing app and is allowing people to connect with their contact lists. Whatsapp is getting almost 1 million new users every day.
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.
Mark Zuckerberg
WhatsApp's extremely high user engagement and rapid growth are driven by the simple, powerful and instantaneous messaging capabilities 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.
Jan Koum
Facebook's messenger (that many people use to connect with their friends and family members) and Whatsapp (that people use to connect to their contact lists) will remain separate applications. Like Instagram, Whatsapp's brand will be maintained by Facebook and is giving co-founder and CEO of Whatsapp opportunity to get in the Facebook's board of Directors.
Google is merging all of their services together and Facebook is acquiring new brands and letting them get popular separately under their own name but both companies are doing thier best to bring internet to everyone. (Both companies are moving in oppsite directions)
Source: Facebook blog and cover image remixed from two Public Domain images
