Former WhatsApp boss regrets selling the app to Facebook

With over 2 billion users, WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging platforms in the world world. However, Facebook, the current owner of the app, wants more. WhatsApp is expanding into new areas, including shopping and payments. Facebook is even thinking about showing ads on WhatsApp, but not everyone is happy with this direction. In fact, these developments have led a former WhatsApp executive to believe that selling products to Facebook was a mistake.

WhatsApp is being expanded into new areas, including shopping and payments Reuters

Neeraj Arora, the former chief business officer of WhatsApp, said on Twitter that he regretted handing the company over to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and associates for $22 billion. “In 2014, I was the Sales Manager of WhatsApp. I helped negotiate a $22 billion deal for Facebook. Today, I regret it,” Arora wrote on Twitter on May 5.

Mr. Arora noted during the acquisition, Facebook (now Meta) promised the WhatsApp team that they would be completely independent in their product decisions and would not promote the display of ads on the app. The WhatsApp team also worked hard to negotiate to ensure that there would be no cross-platform tracking and user data mining, which Facebook management agreed at the time.

However, Brian Acton, one of the co-founders of WhatsApp, left Facebook in 2017, revealed in an interview with Forbes that Facebook plans to show ads on WhatsApp even before the deal goes through. In 2018, Jan Koum, another co-founder of WhatsApp, and Mr. Arora decided to leave the company.

Neeraj Arora, Former Business Manager of WhatsApp, Expresses Regrets on Twitter Screen capture

According to Arora, WhatsApp is now “just a shadow of a product that we used to put all our heart into and want to build for the world”, while emphasizing that he “is not the only one who regrets it. become a part of Facebook.” The former WhatsApp business executive is also unhappy that Facebook charges people to download the app. “If you use whatsapp In the early days, you’ll remember what makes the product so special: its ability to communicate, to connect internationally. For those with loved ones living in multiple countries, WhatsApp is a way to stay connected without having to pay long distance calling or SMS charges. But WhatsApp is now making money by charging users $1 to download the app.”

Facebook has a well-known history of founders of companies being acquired who decided to leave not long after because of management practices. In 2018, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, the two founders of Instagram, left the company because of tensions with Zuckerberg over the direction of the app. Oculus co-founder Nate Mitchell and former CEO Brendan Iribe also left the social media giant because of management differences.