WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton became a multibillionaire when he sold the app to Facebook in 2014 for $22 billion. According to a profile of Acton, published by Forbes on Wednesday (26), the decision still appears to cause some destabilization.
It is worth mentioning that Acton left WhatsApp in 2017 and CEO Jan Koum in August. According to Forbes, Acton's departure cost him $850 million, as it took place before his Facebook shares were fully invested.
The big split with Facebook would have been over app monetization. Koum and Acton did not approve of Facebook's adoption of the high-profit, targeted advertising model, which uses personal data to allow marketers to display their targeted ads.
I sold my users' privacy for a greater benefit "I sold my users' privacy for a greater benefit," Acton told Forbes. "I made a choice and a commitment. And I live with that every day."
Acton's comments come as Facebook grapples with the departure of Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. The departures were also attributed to clashes with Zuckerberg.
Also on Wednesday, David Marcus, head of Facebook's blockchain division, countered a post by Acton on Facebook.
"I think attacking the people and company that made you a billionaire, and went to an unprecedented degree to protect and accommodate you for years, underclass," he wrote. "It's actually a whole new lower-class standard."
Source: Cnet
