(JTA) — WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum will leave the company over conflicts with Facebook, which bought the messaging service four years ago. Koum, a Jewish billionaire originally from Ukraine, reportedly also will leave Facebook’s board of directors, according to The Washington Post, which cited people familiar with internal discussions. His date of departure has not been…
Benjamin Lerner writes about an interview he came across in the media with Jan Koum, the rags-to-riches Jewish immigrant from the former Soviet Union who founded WhatsApp and recently sold it to Facebook for a reported $19 billion dollars. Referring to WhatsApp’s emphasis on privacy in its social network, Koum said: “I grew up in…
A few days after selling WhatsApp to Facebook for $19 billion, Jan Koum stepped into a suite at the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco to celebrate with old friends, including CEOs, reformed hackers and a few people who fell into both those camps. Conducted over snacks and beer, the late-night festivity was a spontaneous…
(JTA) — Jan Koum’s birthday was Monday, but he received his big gift early. The Ukraine-born CEO and founder of WhatsApp has catapulted from relative unknown to a poster boy for rags-to-riches immigrant triumph since his rapidly growing messaging company was sold last week to Facebook for a record-breaking $19 billion. Koum, who just turned…
WhatsApp grew up in Silicon Valley, but its founder’s Jewish background in Eastern Europe gave it its DNA. The messaging company bought by Facebook for $19 billion in a deal announced on Wednesday has become a global force, with 450 million customers who find it an easy way to send messages across borders and between…
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