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Jan Borysovych Koum [a] (born February 24, 1976 [1]) is a Ukrainian-American billionaire businessman and computer programmer. He is the co-founder and former CEO of WhatsApp, a mobile messaging app which was acquired by Facebook in 2014 for US$19.3 billion.
In 2009, Jan Koum and Acton co-founded WhatsApp, [4] a mobile messaging application which was acquired by Facebook in February 2014 for US$19 billion. Acton left WhatsApp in September 2017 to start the Signal Foundation. [5] According to Forbes (2020), Acton is the 836th-richest person in the world, with a net worth of $2.5 billion. [4]
WhatsApp (officially WhatsApp Messenger) is an instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate Meta. [14] It allows users to send text, voice messages and video messages, [15] make voice and video calls, and share images, documents, user locations, and other content.
WhatsApp adds the ability to react to messages with any emoji. [43] 2023 May Product WhatsApp announces users will be able to edit messages up to 15 minutes after being sent. [44] 2023 June Product WhatsApp announces Channels, a feature that allows one-to-many communication for updates, and no defined limit for number of followers.
WhatsApp founder and Chief Executive Officer Jan Koum is leaving Facebook Inc., just a few years after his messaging app was acquired by the social-media giant for $22 billion.
The non-profit Signal Foundation was launched in February 2018 with initial funding of $50 million from WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton. [26] As of January 2022, the platform had approximately 40 million monthly active users. As of May 2021, it was downloaded more than 105 million times. [27] [28]
On February 21, 2018, Moxie Marlinspike and WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton announced the formation of the Signal Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. [4] [8] The foundation was started with an initial $50 million loan from Acton, who had left WhatsApp's parent company, Facebook, in September 2017. [8]
WhatsApp Co-Founder Jan Koum Is Leaving Facebook And It Could Cost Him $1 Billion