{"id":40139,"date":"2022-07-30T15:16:16","date_gmt":"2022-07-30T15:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/?p=40139"},"modified":"2022-07-30T15:16:16","modified_gmt":"2022-07-30T15:16:16","slug":"when-was-whatsapp-sold-to-facebook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/when-was-whatsapp-sold-to-facebook","title":{"rendered":"When Was WhatsApp Sold to Facebook?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_43 counter-flat ez-toc-counter ez-toc-light-blue ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a560217021cc\" class=\"cssicon\"><span style=\"display: flex;align-items: center;width: 35px;height: 30px;justify-content: center;direction:ltr;\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/label><label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a560217021cc\"  class=\"cssiconcheckbox\">1<\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a560217021cc\" ><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/when-was-whatsapp-sold-to-facebook\/#When_Was_WhatsApp_Sold_to_Facebook\" title=\"When Was WhatsApp Sold to Facebook?\">When Was WhatsApp Sold to Facebook?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/when-was-whatsapp-sold-to-facebook\/#Questions_surrounding_the_sale_of_WhatsApp_to_Facebook\" title=\"Questions surrounding the sale of WhatsApp to Facebook\">Questions surrounding the sale of WhatsApp to Facebook<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/when-was-whatsapp-sold-to-facebook\/#Value_of_the_company\" title=\"Value of the company\">Value of the company<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/when-was-whatsapp-sold-to-facebook\/#Potential_revenue_streams\" title=\"Potential revenue streams\">Potential revenue streams<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/when-was-whatsapp-sold-to-facebook\/#Co-founders_views_on_the_deal\" title=\"Co-founders&#8217; views on the deal\">Co-founders&#8217; views on the deal<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/when-was-whatsapp-sold-to-facebook\/#Impact_of_the_deal_on_other_social_networks\" title=\"Impact of the deal on other social networks\">Impact of the deal on other social networks<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"When_Was_WhatsApp_Sold_to_Facebook\"><\/span>When Was WhatsApp Sold to Facebook?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"when was whatsapp sold to facebook\" src=\"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/k8ZpujK.jpg\" style=\"max-width:38% max-height:348px; margin:0px 10px; height:auto; width:auto;\" align=\"right\">  <\/p>\n<p>When was WhatsApp sold to Facebook? Many questions surround the deal, including what the company is worth, how much money Facebook will pay for it, and what the co-founders&#8217; thoughts are. In this article, I&#8217;ll answer those questions and more. Read on to find out! Originally, WhatsApp was founded in 2009, but today, the social networking giant has acquired the company for $4 billion and is paying up to $12 billion for it.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Questions_surrounding_the_sale_of_WhatsApp_to_Facebook\"><\/span>Questions surrounding the sale of WhatsApp to Facebook<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The sale of WhatsApp to Facebook has raised several questions. The acquisition was made for $22 billion, so the government needs to prove that the social networking giant intends to use the data to target advertisements. But there are concerns about privacy and user data collection. If Facebook doesn&#8217;t use the data it collects from WhatsApp, it could violate federal and state laws. In any event, the government will need to show that the acquisition removed a competitor.<\/p>\n<p>The acquisition of WhatsApp by Facebook is not without precedent. Facebook&#8217;s executives have said the acquisition would pose a risk to their core business. Internal documents from Facebook indicate the dangers of WhatsApp. Those documents include emails and presentations. The acquisition has also fueled speculation that WhatsApp will become increasingly isolated from Facebook. Ultimately, the social networking giant may be trying to build a much bigger platform. Regardless, many people worry that it&#8217;s simply a way to get more revenue, as it does with other acquisitions.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Value_of_the_company\"><\/span>Value of the company<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>When it comes to social media acquisitions, nothing has come close to the deal made by Facebook and WhatsApp. While WhatsApp isn&#8217;t worth nearly as much as Instagram, the Facebook-owned photo-sharing app is worth nearly $1 billion. Meanwhile, Microsoft paid $8.5 billion for video-calling company Skype. Facebook declined to comment on the sales, but the deal has already cleared regulatory hurdles. The European Union approved the deal last week.<\/p>\n<p>When Facebook bought WhatsApp in February, the company wasn&#8217;t profitable. It made less than $10 million in revenue last year and had a net loss of $138 million in 2013. The majority of that loss was attributed to stock-based compensation. That means WhatsApp is operating at a $40 million loss per year. Compared to these numbers, Facebook paid just $19 billion for WhatsApp, resulting in a $1.3 billion market cap.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Potential_revenue_streams\"><\/span>Potential revenue streams<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>While Facebook has not provided specific revenue breakdowns for its products, it has indicated that WhatsApp could become a valuable monetization vehicle for its parent company. The company relies heavily on its ad products, so it stands to reason that the ad product teams would figure out how to maximize profit potential on a massive scale. What is more, WhatsApp could quickly grow from 450 million users to 700 million users. As its market share continues to grow, Facebook is sure to have to find new revenue streams to support its core business.<\/p>\n<p>The ad revenues on WhatsApp will be particularly profitable. Users spend a lot more time using WhatsApp than on Facebook, and Facebook can serve ads to them more effectively. But WhatsApp&#8217;s co-founder Jan Koum has been opposed to displaying ads on his service, and the company&#8217;s revenue model is based on in-app advertising. However, Facebook has a large database of users and a number of well-developed measurement and targeting tools.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Co-founders_views_on_the_deal\"><\/span>Co-founders&#8217; views on the deal<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>After Facebook&#8217;s acquisition of WhatsApp, two of the company&#8217;s co-founders have spoken out about their feelings about the deal. Brian Acton says he&#8217;s disappointed that Facebook wanted to use WhatsApp as a means to sell analytics tools and show targeted ads to users. Acton argues that this would break the company&#8217;s social compact with its users. Rather than selling analytics tools, WhatsApp should remain free, without ads and games.<\/p>\n<p>But WhatsApp is not a &#8220;cash cow&#8221; for Facebook. When Facebook bought WhatsApp, the messaging service had less than $20 million in revenue. Meanwhile, Facebook was making billions of dollars from selling access to its users and accumulating huge amounts of data about them. However, WhatsApp co-founders emphasized the importance of privacy and were at odds with Facebook&#8217;s desire to collect user data.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Impact_of_the_deal_on_other_social_networks\"><\/span>Impact of the deal on other social networks<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Facebook just bought WhatsApp for $19 billion. The deal has many consequences. First, it challenges our notions of communications networks. The telephone becomes more valuable to more people, and even those who do not want to create value for other people may use it. The same logic applies to online social networks. Advertisers pay good money for data on people. Second, it allows advertisers to tailor their advertisements to meet users&#8217; needs.<\/p>\n<p>Facebook&#8217;s move to acquire WhatsApp has a lot of implications for other social networks. For one, the deal may not benefit them in the short term. Facebook will need to maintain its lead, and WhatsApp will eventually fade away. Another app will come along and replace WhatsApp. This deal will be celebrated on Wall Street, but it will hurt the rest of the social networks, too. That&#8217;s because Facebook&#8217;s monopoly will be undermined.<\/p>\n<p> <iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ocMyXXAYnVY\" width=\"515\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"288\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"margin:0px auto; display: block;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Was WhatsApp Sold to Facebook? When was WhatsApp sold to Facebook? Many questions surround the deal, including what the company is worth, how much money Facebook will pay for it, and what the co-founders&#8217; thoughts are. In this article, I&#8217;ll answer those questions and more. Read on to find out! Originally, WhatsApp was founded [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43841,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.7 (Yoast SEO v21.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>When Was WhatsApp Sold to Facebook? - Zeru<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/when-was-whatsapp-sold-to-facebook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When Was WhatsApp Sold to Facebook?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When Was WhatsApp Sold to Facebook? When was WhatsApp sold to Facebook? 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