Feb 20
Facebook’s $19bn offer for WhatsApp was one of a number of big-figure acquisition attempts, with Google reportedly offering $10bn for the messaging service. Facebook’s deal – which sees WhatsApp valued … Continue reading
Feb 20
Earlier Facebook announced their plans to acquire WhatsApp, one of the world’s most popular instant messenger apps. With Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp, Facebook has entered into direct competition with the like of other instant messenger apps, such as Tango, for example. In an email sent to us, Eric Setton, the CTO and co-founder has decided to weigh in on the issue. According to Setton, he feels that Facebook might have gotten themselves a good deal. “With this move, Facebook acquired a messaging service that has more active users than Twitter at half the price.”
However Setton wonders how Facebook will be able to earn money from WhatsApp. After all, WhatsApp is based on a subscription service, while Facebook makes their money from ads. In fact with Instagram, Facebook has attempted to introduce ads as part of Instagram’s feed, but we’re sure that WhatsApp users will definitely not be pleased if Facebook attempted to introduce ads in the service as well. “The company is especially valuable to Facebook since mobile advertising is on the rise and it will be a good match to Whatsapp’s high engagement levels. Tango knows this first hand as we successfully introduced native ads last year. It’ll be interesting to see how WhatsApp’s “no ads ever” approach will play out now.” That is a good question actually, will WhatsApp’s subscription service generate enough revenue to appease Facebook? Or does the social networking giant have something else planned?
Tango’s Co-Founder Comments On WhatsApp’s Acquisition By Facebook original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Feb 19
As you might have heard by now, Facebook has announced its plans to acquire popular instant messaging app, WhatsApp, for an eye-watering $16 billion with an extra $3 billion in RSUs. This is a lot of money for the company who has remained largely independent, save for an investment of $60 million by Sequoia Capital, according to Fortune. For the most part investors who choose to invest do so because they want to reap the benefits of their investments later down the road, and in this case it looks like Sequoia Capital could be walking away with a lot of money. While the percentage of WhatsApp owned by Sequoia Capital was not disclosed, sources of The Verge have suggested that it could be between 10 to 20 percent.
What this means is that the investment company could reap as much as $3.2 billion in both cash and stock. For an investment of $60 million, this is a huge returns and we’re pretty sure the folks at Sequoia Capital are pretty darn happy about it. In a way it is a little ironic because back in December of 2013, WhatsApp’s CEO, Jan Koum, was quoted as saying that the company had no intention of selling itself or going public. This is because costs of the company were relatively low mainly due to the fact that there was no money spent on activities such as marketing, which typically takes up a huge chunk of a company’s budget. Either way at the end of the day, it looks like not only is this a win for WhatsApp, but a win for its investor as well.
WhatsApp Investor Could Walk Away With $3.2 Billion In Cash And Stocks original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Feb 19
Facebook announced today that it’s buying messaging app WhatsApp
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Feb 19
Facebook has had its fair share of stumbles trying to get a handle on how to take over your phone. I mean, remember Facebook Home
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Feb 19
WhatsApp has to be one of the more popular instant messaging apps around and we guess we can say that it is a competitor to other instant messenger apps, such as Facebook Messenger. As the adage goes, if you can’t beat them, join them, or in this case, buy them. Facebook has announced that they will be acquiring WhatsApp and will be paying the company a whopping $16 billion in cash and stock, with an additional $3 billion in restricted stock for WhatsApp employees that will vest over a period of four years until the deal is finalized. This was confirmed in a press release from Facebook and WhatsApp, along with a document that was filed with the SEC. The deal will also see WhatsApp’s co-founder and CEO, Jan Koum, joining the Facebook Board of Directors.
So what does this mean for you and me? Well thankfully nothing, at least for now. According to WhatsApp’s announcement, they claim that nothing will change for the users and will be autonomous and operate independently, which we guess is somewhat similar when Facebook acquired Instagram as the service is still free of Facebook branding or design changes. After all, why fix what ain’t broke, right We’re not sure if Facebook might make some changes in the future or perhaps integrate Facebook Messenger with WhatsApp, but for now it seems that everything will proceed as per usual. However with Facebook’s brand, reputation, and strong financial backing, it will be interesting to see where this will take us. One thing is for sure though, and that is Facebook has now staked a claim on yet another major part of how you use your phone.
Facebook Acquires WhatsApp For $16 Billion original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Feb 19
This afternoon Facebook announced that they’d be acquiring the whole of the app ecosystem called WhatsApp for a cool $19 billion USD. This purchase price includes $4 billion in cash, … Continue reading
Feb 19
Facebook to acquire WhatsApp
Posted in: Today's ChiliAccording to a regulatory filing that has just surfaced over at the SEC’s website and an official statement from the social network, Facebook is acquiring the popular messaging service WhatsApp … Continue reading
Feb 19
Facebook just entered into an agreement to buy the hugely popular messaging app, which recently passed the milestone of 450 million active monthly users. The cost? $16 billion (more on the price below). Wow.
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Feb 19
The way we’re identified online needs to catch up to the modern Internet.
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