Haute 100 SF Update: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Announces $19 Billion Purchase of WhatsApp

Facebook has recently announced the acquisition of WhatsApp for $19 billion.  The popular messaging service is a cross-platform mobile messaging app for iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Phone and Nokia, and allows users to send messages without paying for SMS. Facebook CEO.

Mark Zuckerberg said Monday that his company’s $19 billion deal to buy WhatsApp fits into a larger goal of connecting more people around the world to the Internet. WhatsApp may ultimately be worth more than the eye-popping price Facebook agreed to pay last week, based on the revenue that other messaging services are earning, Zuckerberg insisted during a talk at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

But he added that the acquisition means WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum can concentrate on expanding the service’s international user base — now about 450 million and growing fast — rather than worry about how to make money from the operation. Zuckerberg said the WhatsApp deal grew out of conversations he and Koum had about providing better Internet service in undeveloped parts of the world. He added that “Jan was excited” about  internet.org  and its goals.

[Sources: mercurynews.com; crunchbase.com]

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