WhatsApp co-founder says he’s a sell-out for allowing Facebook acquire his company

WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton has called himself a “sell-out” for allowing Facebook to buy his company, adding that selling WhatsApp users’ privacy “to a larger benefit” is a decision he has to live with every day.

The frank admission comes in an interview with Forbes, which outlines in some detail how Acton’s company came to be acquired by Facebook and the battle that ensued over Facebook’s push to monetize its prized asset.

Acton and WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum originally met while working at Yahoo in the 1990s and the two went on to launch WhatsApp together in 2009.

Read also: Ex-Google CEO Schmidt predicts internet will split in 2 by 2028

The company largely made money through charging a small annual subscription, but after Facebook snapped WhatsApp up for $22 billion in 2014, the annual fee was removed altogether, leaving many to wonder how Facebook planned to make money from the app.

These latest revelations come just days after Instagram founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger revealed they too are leaving Facebook amid rumours of clashes with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

It seems Facebook is trying to diminish any lingering autonomy that existed at its two billion-dollar acquisitions, as evidenced by these four high-profile departures in the past 12 months.

 

RipplesNigeria… without borders, without fears

Click here to join the Ripples Nigeria WhatsApp group for latest updates.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now