Tuesday, May 1, 2018

WhatsApp founder leaves the company after privacy disputes with Facebook

Koum says it's "time for me to move on."

Jan Koum, the Co-Founder and CEO of WhatsApp, is officially leaving the company, reportedly as a result of various clashes and disagreements with Facebook.

The Washington Post:

Conflicts soon arose over how WhatsApp would make money. Facebook scrapped the 99-cent annual charge, and Koum and Acton continued to oppose the advertising model. [...] The founders also clashed with Facebook over building a mobile payments system on WhatsApp in India.

Encryption was also said to be an issue:

Facebook executives wanted to make it easier for businesses to use its tools, and WhatsApp executives believed that doing so would require some weakening of its encryption.

It also sounds like the problems extend beyond Koum:

Ultimately, Koum was worn down by the differences in approach, the people said. Other WhatsApp employees are demoralized and plan to leave in November, four years and a month after the Facebook acquisition, when they are allowed to exercise all their stock options under the terms of the Facebook deal, according to the people.

Koum posted on his personal Facebook confirming his departure, but not stating any reasons other than it being time to move on:



from Windows Central - News, Forums, Reviews, Help for Windows 10 and all things Microsoft. https://ift.tt/2I0Eedw
via IFTTT

No comments:

Post a Comment