Brian Acton, the co-founder of WhatsApp has announced that he is leaving the company to start his own non-profit venture. Acton had joined Facebook when WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook for $19 billion in 2014.
Acton who is a Stanford alumnus co-founded WhatsApp with Ukrainian immigrant Jan Koum in 2009. Ironically, Acton was rejected at a Facebook interview back in 2009 after leaving a job at Yahoo. After that, he started WhatsApp, one of the most popular messaging app.
”After 8 years at WhatsApp, I have decided to move on and start a new chapter in my life. I am very fortunate at my age to have the flexibility to take new risks and focus on what I’m passionate about. I’ve decided to start a nonprofit focused at the intersection of non-profit, technology and communications,” Acton wrote on his Facebook post.
Brian Acton had been leading engineering for WhatsApp, and he was the advocate for WhatsApp’s encryption feature. Acton announced his departure at a WhatsApp all-hands team meeting at the Facebook headquarters on Tuesday.
Acton’s departure comes just after Facebook is all set to make some money by introducing WhatsApp for Business. Currently, WhatsApp which has more than 1 billion users does not generate any revenue.
”This decision is, of course, a tough one. I’m proud of what our team has accomplished in only a few years, and it’s humbling to see that so many people rely on WhatsApp every day,” he added in his post.
