Popular messaging app WhatsApp was acquired by Mark Zuckerberg-led Facebook (now known as Meta) in 2014 for around $22 billion in cash and stock. The messaging app’s former chief business officer Neeraj Arora who helped in the negotiations now says that he regrets it.
Facebook had acquired WhatsApp in a multi-billion dollar deal, making it the biggest acquisition for the company. The acquisition happened around five years after WhatsApp was launched and three years after Arora joined the company.
In a series of tweets, Neeraj Arora talks about the circumstances around the deal and the promises made by Facebook to convince WhatsApp’s founder Brain Acton to sell the app to the social media giant.
“In 2014, I was the Chief Business Officer of WhatsApp and I helped negotiate the $22 billion sale to Facebook. Today, I regret it,” Arora said on Twitter.
According to Arora, Facebook had approached WhatsApp for acquiring the messaging app in 2012/2013 and the latter had rejected the offer. However, Facebook approached WhatsApp once again in 2014.
Promises made by Facebook
Arora claims that Facebook’s offer in 2014 sounded like a partnership due to the promises made by the Zuckerberg led company.
- Full support for end-to-end encryption.
- No ads.
- Independence on product decisions.
- Board seat for Jan Koum (WhatsApp cofounder and former CEO).
