Does Mark Zuckerberg Own WhatsApp?

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, is a name that has become synonymous with social media and the internet. But does he own WhatsApp? The answer is a bit more complicated than you might think.

WhatsApp was founded in 2009 by Jan Koum and Brian Acton, both former Yahoo! employees.

Zuckerberg had been interested in acquiring the company since 2011, when he offered to buy it for $1 billion. At that time, Koum and Acton decided to hold out for a higher price.

WhatsApp was eventually acquired by Facebook in 2014 for $19 billion; this made it the largest acquisition in Facebook’s history. After the acquisition, Koum became Chief Executive Officer of WhatsApp and remained at the company until 2018 when he left due to disagreements with management over how Facebook was using user data. Acton left in 2017 and went on to found Signal, another popular messaging app.

So does Mark Zuckerberg own WhatsApp?

Technically speaking, Zuckerberg does not own WhatsApp; however, he is ultimately responsible for its success since it was his decision to acquire the company back in 2014.

Facebook still owns WhatsApp as part of its larger social media empire. Zuckerberg may not have a direct ownership stake in the company but as CEO of Facebook he still has considerable influence over how it operates.

In conclusion, Mark Zuckerberg does not own WhatsApp outright but he still exerts considerable influence over its operations due to his role as CEO of Facebook.