WhatsApp Messenger is a freeware and cross-platform messaging and voice over IP (VoIP) service owned by Facebook. The application allows the sending of text messages and voice calls, as well as video calls, images and other media, documents, and user location.
After leaving Yahoo! in September 2007, Ukrainian American Jan Koum took some time off in South America with his fellow computer programmer Brian Acton where they played ultimate frisbee.
When they returned to the States, both Acton and Koum applied, and failed, to work at Facebook.
After Koum bought an iPhone in January 2009, he realized that the seven-month old App Store was about to spawn a whole new industry of apps. He began with the help of his friend Alex Fishman to develop a new type of messaging app that would "[show] statuses next to individual names of the people".
Koum chose the name WhatsApp because it sounded like “what’s up,” and on his birthday, February. 24, 2009, he incorporated WhatsApp Inc. in California.
At first WhatsApp struggled to find users, but its fortunes began to turn after Apple Inc added push notification ability to apps in June 2009. Koum changed WhatsApp to "ping" users when they received a message, and soon afterwards his Russian friends in the area began to use WhatsApp as a messaging tool, in place of SMS. The app gained a large user base, and Koum convinced Acton, who was then still unemployed, to join the company.
In October 2009 Brian Acton persuaded five ex-Yahoo! friends to invest $250,000 in seed funding, and was granted co-founder status.
After months at beta stage, the WhatsApp application launched in November 2009, exclusively on the App Store for the iPhone. A BlackBerry version arrived two months later.
In December 2009, the ability to send photos was added to the iPhone version.
WhatsApp was gradually bringing in revenue, roughly $5,000 a month, by early 2010, which was enough to cover the costs. However, to cover the primary cost of sending verification texts to users, it was changed from a free service to a paid one.
By early 2011, WhatsApp was one of the top 20 apps at Apple's U.S. App Store.
In April 2011, Sequoia Capital invested about $8 million for more than 15% of the company.
WhatsApp went free in July 2013 with an annual subscription fee of $1 after the first year.
Facebook announced its acquisition of WhatsApp on February 19, 2014. The total value of the deal was $19 billion ($4 billion in cash, $12 billion in stock, and $3 billion in restricted stock units granted to Acton and Koum). There was a $1 Billion Break-up fee should the deal not go through. It was Facebook's largest acquisition to date.
Jan Koum entered the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans at #62 in 2014, with an estimated worth of more than $7.5 billion. He was the highest-ranked newcomer to the list that year.
Originally, users could communicate only with others individually or in groups of individuals, but in September 2017, WhatsApp announced a forthcoming business platform which will enable companies to provide customer service to users.
Also in September 2017, Acton left WhatsApp over a dispute with Facebook regarding monetization of the app. He noted to Forbes that he was coached by Facebook executives to mislead European regulators regarding Facebook's intention to merge Facebook and WhatsApp user data.
On April 30, 2018, Koum announced that he was leaving WhatsApp.
As of the end of 2017, WhatsApp had 1.5 billion monthly active users.
WhatsApp doesn’t sell ads and none have appeared on the app. Jan Koum used to keep a note from Brian Acton taped to his desk that read "No Ads! No Games! No Gimmicks!" to keep them focused on building a pure messaging experience.
https://english.newstracklive.com/news/amazing-facts-interesting-facts-you-didnt-know-about-whatsapp-sc-nu-1007433-1.html
After leaving Yahoo! in September 2007, Ukrainian American Jan Koum took some time off in South America with his fellow computer programmer Brian Acton where they played ultimate frisbee.
When they returned to the States, both Acton and Koum applied, and failed, to work at Facebook.
After Koum bought an iPhone in January 2009, he realized that the seven-month old App Store was about to spawn a whole new industry of apps. He began with the help of his friend Alex Fishman to develop a new type of messaging app that would "[show] statuses next to individual names of the people".
Koum chose the name WhatsApp because it sounded like “what’s up,” and on his birthday, February. 24, 2009, he incorporated WhatsApp Inc. in California.
At first WhatsApp struggled to find users, but its fortunes began to turn after Apple Inc added push notification ability to apps in June 2009. Koum changed WhatsApp to "ping" users when they received a message, and soon afterwards his Russian friends in the area began to use WhatsApp as a messaging tool, in place of SMS. The app gained a large user base, and Koum convinced Acton, who was then still unemployed, to join the company.
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| Jan Koum left and Brian Acton right. By Sequoia Capital |
In October 2009 Brian Acton persuaded five ex-Yahoo! friends to invest $250,000 in seed funding, and was granted co-founder status.
After months at beta stage, the WhatsApp application launched in November 2009, exclusively on the App Store for the iPhone. A BlackBerry version arrived two months later.
In December 2009, the ability to send photos was added to the iPhone version.
WhatsApp was gradually bringing in revenue, roughly $5,000 a month, by early 2010, which was enough to cover the costs. However, to cover the primary cost of sending verification texts to users, it was changed from a free service to a paid one.
By early 2011, WhatsApp was one of the top 20 apps at Apple's U.S. App Store.
In April 2011, Sequoia Capital invested about $8 million for more than 15% of the company.
WhatsApp went free in July 2013 with an annual subscription fee of $1 after the first year.
Facebook announced its acquisition of WhatsApp on February 19, 2014. The total value of the deal was $19 billion ($4 billion in cash, $12 billion in stock, and $3 billion in restricted stock units granted to Acton and Koum). There was a $1 Billion Break-up fee should the deal not go through. It was Facebook's largest acquisition to date.
Jan Koum entered the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans at #62 in 2014, with an estimated worth of more than $7.5 billion. He was the highest-ranked newcomer to the list that year.
Originally, users could communicate only with others individually or in groups of individuals, but in September 2017, WhatsApp announced a forthcoming business platform which will enable companies to provide customer service to users.
Also in September 2017, Acton left WhatsApp over a dispute with Facebook regarding monetization of the app. He noted to Forbes that he was coached by Facebook executives to mislead European regulators regarding Facebook's intention to merge Facebook and WhatsApp user data.
On April 30, 2018, Koum announced that he was leaving WhatsApp.
As of the end of 2017, WhatsApp had 1.5 billion monthly active users.
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| Messaging with What's App. By Santeri Viinamäki, |
WhatsApp doesn’t sell ads and none have appeared on the app. Jan Koum used to keep a note from Brian Acton taped to his desk that read "No Ads! No Games! No Gimmicks!" to keep them focused on building a pure messaging experience.
https://english.newstracklive.com/news/amazing-facts-interesting-facts-you-didnt-know-about-whatsapp-sc-nu-1007433-1.html
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