WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton is leaving the company to start a new non-profit organization. He made the announcement via a post Facebook post.
After 8 years at WhatsApp, I have decided to move on and start a new chapter in my life. I am very fortunate at my age to have the flexibility to take new risks and focus on what I’m passionate about. I’ve decided to start a non-profit focused at the intersection of nonprofit, technology and communications. It’s something I’ve thought about for a while, and now it’s time to just focus and execute. I’ll have more to share in the coming months.
Acton co-founded WhatsApp with Jan Koum in 2009. The popular messaging app was then acquired by Facebook for $19 billion in 2014. WhatsApp crossed 1 billion daily active user milestone in July this year. Earlier this month, WhatsApp announced that it its testing new tools through a closed pilot program that will allow people to communicate with the businesses they want to reach on WhatsApp.