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    Facebook closes WhatsApp purchase now worth $21.8B

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments2577 Views
    In this June 11, 2014 photo, a man walks past a Facebook sign at an office on the Facebook campus in Menlo Park, Calif. (AP Photo).
    NEW YORK (AP) --

    Facebook has completed its acquisition of the mobile messaging service WhatsApp for almost $22 billion, up from the original $19 billion when the cash-and-stock deal was struck early this year thanks in part to the rising price of Facebook shares.

    Facebook named WhatsApp co-founder and CEO Jan Koum to its board Monday. WhatsApp is by far the largest acquisition for the Menlo Park, California company, and bigger than any deals made by Google, Microsoft or Apple.

    The price that Facebook was willing to pay raised eyebrows when the buyout was announced Feb. 19, though analysts agreed that landing the popular site made sense. Including cash, stock and restricted stock awarded to WhatsApp employees, the deal is worth $21.8 billion based on Facebook's stock price on Monday.

    WhatsApp has been growing rapidly, especially in developing countries like Brazil, India, Mexico and Russia, and now has more than 500 million users.

    WhatsApp lets users chat with their phone contacts, both one-on-one and in groups. It also allows people to send texts, photos, videos and voice recordings over the Internet and lets them text or call people overseas without heavy charges. Free to use for the first year and costing $1 per year after that, the service has no advertising.

    Facebook, which has its own mobile messaging app called Messenger, plans to keep WhatsApp as a separate service.

    The acquisition was approved by antitrust authority of the European Union on Friday.

    Facebook's shares climbed 32 cents to $77.76 in afternoon trading on Monday.

    Tags:Facebook



    Trump taps “Apprentice” producer, Mark Burnett, as special envoy to the U.K.

    Saturday, December 21, 2024
    Television producer Mark Burnett, left, looks on as President Donald Trump arrives for the National Prayer Breakfast, Feb. 2, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

    Mark Burnett, the power producer who helped reintroduce Donald Trump to a national television audience with "The Apprentice," is being tapped by the president-elect as special envoy to the United Kingdom in his upcoming administration.

    "With a distinguished career in television production and business, Mark brings a unique blend of diplomatic acumen and international recognition to this important role," Trump announced Saturday.

    Burnett, who was born in London, helped produce hits like "Survivor" and "The Voice," but is perhaps best known for teaming up with Trump for "The Apprentice," which first aired on NBC in 2004.

    Trump had been well-known in real estate and pop culture circles for decades. But the show helped again make him a household name — though Trump severed ties with NBC in 2015, the same year he launched his first White House run.

    The selection of Burnett continues Trump's trend of filling out his incoming administration with people who have high-profile backgrounds in television or politics, or both — including his choice to be defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, a former co-host of "Fox & Friends Weekend," and ex-television doctor and unsuccessful Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, Mehmet Oz.

    Trump's first campaign in 2016 was rocked by allegations about his conduct on "The Apprentice" and other appearances during his association with NBC, notably in footage in which he said he could sexually assault women and get away with it because he was a "star."

    Almost a decade after he left his reality TV role, Trump's television career remains central to his biography and political rise. The show presented Trump Tower to tens of millions of people as a symbol of power and success before Trump launched his first... Read More

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