Who owns WhatsApp?

With more than 5 billion downloads and counting, WhatsApp is undoubtedly one of the most downloaded apps of all time.

Of this number, more than 2 billion active users use the app at least once a month.

WhatsApp is also popular among businesses, as WhatsApp Business has been downloaded more than 500 million times.

Although WhatsApp knows every one of its billions of users, at least by phone number, not all of its users know who owns WhatsApp.

So, who owns WhatsApp?

Short answer: Facebook (now known as Meta)

WhatsApp was founded by the duo of Jan Koum and Brian Acton on February 24, 2009. However, it was not the free cross-platform instant messenger and VOIP service it has now morphed into.

It was initially designed as an app to let you know what’s up with your contacts by showing their current status, like where they are, what they’re doing, etc.

With time, chance, and the arrival of push notifications, it gradually transformed into what it is today.

Seeing its brilliant performance and widespread adoption, Facebook (now Meta) offered to buy WhatsApp for a whopping $19 billion in 2014, its largest acquisition and the largest venture-backed company in history.

READ MORE: What do the checkmarks mean on WhatsApp?

Two years prior, in 2012, Facebook also bought Instagram for $1 billion from founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger.

Since 2019, Will Cathcart has piloted the affairs of WhatsApp as CEO and brought about many improvements and updates to the messaging platform.

For instance, users can now undelete chat messages, download and use WhatsApp for Windows, move chat history from Android to iPhone, block other users, create groups of 512 people, build their own Communities, among several others.

And what’s Meta?

Short answer: The parent company of Facebook and WhatsApp

Meta Platforms’ name points towards the word Metaverse, a combination of meta and universe.

It represents Mark Zuckerberg’s dream of using virtual and augmented reality to drive social connections. The Menlo Park conglomerate describes itself as a social technology company.

To date, Meta, which also owns Instagram, has acquired more than 90 companies, including startups and potential competitors, with WhatsApp as its largest acquisition yet.

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