The social network announced after the close of the market on Wednesday that it has acquired mobile messaging service WhatsApp for $19 billion.
As several commentators tweeted, reaching simultaneously for the low-hanging comedy fruit: “They should call it WTFapp.”
Yes, the price is $19 billion: $4 billion in cash, about $12 billion in Facebook stock, and $3 billion in restricted shares, to pay out to WhatsApp employees over the next four years. For a five-year-old company with 50 employees, that translates into $380 million per person—and a heck of a haul for the startup’s venture investors, led by Sequoia Capital. WhatsApp founder Jan Koum, a former Yahoo! (YAHOO)employee, will join Facebook’s board of directors.
