Facebook Wraps Up $19 Billion WhatsApp Deal That’s Now Worth $22 Billion

Facebook has closed its deal for messaging startup WhatsApp, after receiving the go-ahead from European Union regulators last week. WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum is now a Facebook board member, and has an “inducement grant” of stock currently worth $1.9 billion if he stays with the company for the next four years. The deal price, originally announced in February as $19 billion, has now risen to $21.8 billion, primarily because the value of Facebook stock has increased.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

Will you join us?

Our biggest supporters are our readers — and we’re so grateful to everyone who has made a contribution during our September campaign. We’re less than 1,000 contributions away from reaching our goal for the month, which in turn will allow us to say yes more often when our incredible journalists come to us with questions they want to answer and projects they want to pursue. Will you make a contribution before the month ends and support our policy coverage through 2024 and beyond?

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via