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FollowIt’s been a while since Facebook announced that it will purchase the most popular messaging app at the moment, WhatsApp. When they announced it back in February, it didn’t come as a surprise to anyone because sooner or later Facebook will buy any app that makes a lot of money. It already rules the Internet world and they won’t stop at that. Today’s big news (and a happy one for Facebook) is that Facebook and WhatsApp deal has been completed, legally speaking. They officially closed the deal with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the European Commission.
When Facebook first announced how much it cost them to purchase WhatsApp we were all shocked: $19 billion, but it’s not like Facebook can’t afford that. Things have changed a bit and the Facebook and WhatsApp deal costs $21.8 billion. This is because the share price has gone up in the last months.
After the purchase has been completed, Jan Koum, the founder and CEO of WhatsApp joined the Facebook board and his salary will be $1 per year. Don’t worry, he has received plenty an enormous sum of money from Facebook shares. That was the deal.
Some were worried that the Facebook and WhatsApp deal being finalized will bring serious changes to the world’s most used messaging app, but Facebook hasn’t made any official statements regarding any changes, so far. They only said that they will manage their latest acquisitions (WhatsApp, Instagram and Oculus, independently).
When the Facebook and WhatsApp deal was announced earlier this year, Jan Koum said that the app will remain faithful to its values and there won’t be any major changes. Let’s hope Facebook will keep it that way.
He said that, “There would have been no partnership between our two companies if we had to compromise on the core principles that will always define our company, our vision and our product.”
We don’t think that WhatsApp’s yearly subscription fee of $0,99 will change any time soon but Facebook will want to increase the app’s popularity even more. Supposedly, Zuckerberg wants WhatsApp to reach one billion users.
What do you think about the Facebook and WhatsApp deal? Do you think this will bring significant changes to the popular messaging app?
