Jan Koum, co-founder of WhatsApp, leaves Facebook over privacy issues

The Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal cost Facebook an unknown number of subscribers. There is also another casualty. WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum is leaving Facebook. The latter purchased the WhatsApp messaging app in a transaction that closed in October, 2014. The final purchase price of over $21 billion opened some eyes in the industry because of the hefty price tag. While Koum reportedly made only $1 a year in salary at Facebook, his stock deal includes restricted stock units that vest quarterly over four years. Last year, he reaped $2.83 billion by selling some of his vested shares.

Koum's departure comes two months after WhatsApp's other co-founder, Brian Acton, told followers to delete Facebook. Last year, Acton left the social networking app to start encrypted messaging app Signal. Obviously privacy means a lot to both of them. A bit over two years ago, WhatsApp added end-to-end encryption for its members' messages.

Today, Koum published a post on Facebook announcing that he was leaving. He said that he will now have the time to do the things outside of technology that he enjoys such as "collecting rare air-cooled Porsches, working on my cars and playing ultimate frisbee." Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg responded by thanking Koum for teaching him about encryption "and its ability to take power from centralized systems and put it back in people's hands."


WhatsApp said last year that it had 1.3 billion active monthly users and was adding one million more each day.

source: JanKoum via CNBC