Which company acquired WhatsApp in 2014?

Facebook acquired WhatsApp in 2014; Facebook later changed its corporate name to Meta Platforms. The deal was announced on 19 February 2014 and made WhatsApp part of Facebook’s expanding family of internet services.

Facebook agreed to pay approximately $19 billion in cash, shares and restricted stock units. The headline figure included $4 billion in cash, $12 billion in Facebook stock and about $3 billion in restricted stock for WhatsApp employees and founders. At the time, it was one of the largest technology acquisitions ever announced.

WhatsApp had been founded by Jan Koum and Brian Acton, former Yahoo employees. Its enormous international user base made it strategically valuable to Facebook, which already operated Facebook Messenger but wanted a stronger position in mobile messaging.

A common mix-up is answering “Meta.” Meta is the company’s current name, adopted in 2021, but the acquiring company in 2014 was Facebook, Inc. WhatsApp continued operating as a distinct service after the acquisition, although it became part of Meta’s broader corporate portfolio.