Which company owns the WhatsApp messaging service?

Meta Platforms owns the WhatsApp messaging service.

Meta, then called Facebook, acquired WhatsApp in 2014 for approximately $19.3 billion in cash and stock, including employee retention awards. WhatsApp was founded in 2009 by Jan Koum and Brian Acton, former Yahoo employees, and initially focused on status updates before becoming a messaging application.

The service supports text messages, voice and video calls, group chats, file sharing, and status posts. It became especially important in countries where mobile messaging replaced traditional SMS as the everyday communication method.

The corporate owner is Meta Platforms, but WhatsApp remains a distinct product with its own brand and application. Meta changed its corporate name from Facebook to Meta in October 2021, so older references describe the acquisition as Facebook buying WhatsApp.