# Facebook buys Whatsapp for $19Billion **URL:** \ **Category:** NYSpeed Off Topic\ **Created:** [February 19, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/facebook-buys-whatsapp-for-19billion/268308 "2014-02-19T15:49:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bing](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/bing/32/7211_2.png) [@bing](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/facebook-buys-whatsapp-for-19billion/268308/1 "2014-02-19T15:49:06Z")
> **[Facebook to buy WhatsApp for $19 billion](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-whatsapp-facebook/facebook-to-buy-whatsapp-for-19-billion-idUSBREA1I26B20140219)** > > Facebook Inc will buy fast-growing mobile-messaging startup WhatsApp for $19 billion in cash and stock, as the world's largest social network looks for ways to boost its popularity, especially among a younger crowd. SRSLY???!!? I actually understand this. $19B is a drop in the bucket for facebook and it gets control of the leading messaging service worldwide… Can you image what they are offering Pinterest right now? ---
**Author:** ![LZ1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@LZ1](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/LZ1)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 3:53pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/facebook-buys-whatsapp-for-19billion/268308/2 "2014-02-19T15:53:21Z")
It’s funny facebook is moving towards centralizing everything similar to AOL in the 90’s ---
**Author:** ![ubengineering](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/ubengineering/32/5171_2.png) [@ubengineering](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ubengineering)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 4:05pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/facebook-buys-whatsapp-for-19billion/268308/3 "2014-02-19T16:05:01Z")
Whatsapp is awesome, I use it when traveling the globe. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/bing/32/7211_2.png) [@bing](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 4:07pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/facebook-buys-whatsapp-for-19billion/268308/4 "2014-02-19T16:07:44Z")
> [@LZ](#): > > It’s funny facebook is moving towards centralizing everything similar to AOL in the 90’s i think they just want to capture as much of your net-driven social-activity as possible and to scale their ad / search and other engagement tools as possible buying the emerging leaders in each discipline is not a bad idea. the $19B valuation is a bit wacky but with the gross margins on web ad revenue it’s all just free money anyways. ---
**Author:** ![LZ1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@LZ1](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/LZ1)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 4:17pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/facebook-buys-whatsapp-for-19billion/268308/5 "2014-02-19T16:17:30Z")
> [@bing](#): > > i think they just want to capture as much of your net-driven social-activity as possible and to scale their ad / search and other engagement tools as possible buying the emerging leaders in each discipline is not a bad idea. > > the $19B valuation is a bit wacky but with the gross margins on web ad revenue it’s all just free money anyways. I realize the big picture but portalizing the internet at some point will fail hard. The idea behind the internet is everything is distributed Facebook is already driving away the younger generation ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/bing/32/7211_2.png) [@bing](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/facebook-buys-whatsapp-for-19billion/268308/6 "2014-02-19T16:29:06Z")
facebook isnt driving away the younger generation, it’s that kids want to be where there parent’s aren’t… and that isn’t facebook. my mom and my grandmother are on FB commenting on every post that my wife or I make… it’s annoying as hell. ---
**Author:** ![Onyx\_Z32](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/onyx_z32/32/7581_2.png) [@Onyx\_Z32](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Onyx_Z32)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/facebook-buys-whatsapp-for-19billion/268308/7 "2014-02-19T17:35:08Z")
I’ve seen aggressive predictions that Facebook will drop in traffic a-la-MySpace as soon as 2017, but who knows really. I have Wastsapp on my phone but I never use it. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/bing/32/7211_2.png) [@bing](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 5:51pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/facebook-buys-whatsapp-for-19billion/268308/8 "2014-02-19T17:51:13Z")
Facebook won’t die. I know a lot of you guys don’t use it that heavily but i have to spend hours glued to it every day… with all the activity going on in groups and as a place to set up family events and message people who don’t have smart phones… it’s irreplaceable. As much as i hate having my mom on FB i talk to her more through messaging over FB than i do in person or on the phone combined. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Eyed\_Devil](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/blue_eyed_devil/32/7292_2.png) [@Blue\_Eyed\_Devil](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Blue_Eyed_Devil)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 6:07pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/facebook-buys-whatsapp-for-19billion/268308/9 "2014-02-19T18:07:28Z")
So what do they get for $19 billion? I have never even heard of this company. I remember the days when everyone knew multi-billion dollar companies because they employed tons of employees, had assets and history, etc. I guess I am old. I don’t know, maybe Facebook needed a write-off. ---
**Author:** ![LZ1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@LZ1](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/LZ1)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/facebook-buys-whatsapp-for-19billion/268308/10 "2014-02-19T18:55:03Z")
> [@bing](#): > > Facebook won’t die. > > I know a lot of you guys don’t use it that heavily but i have to spend hours glued to it every day… with all the activity going on in groups and as a place to set up family events and message people who don’t have smart phones… it’s irreplaceable. > > As much as i hate having my mom on FB i talk to her more through messaging over FB than i do in person or on the phone combined. The same way people said MySpace wouldn’t die Technology moves very very quickly I realize people currently use facebook for unified family comms there is nothing stopping something else from starting up. Almost all these social tech companies are extremely overvalued and setting up for another silicon valley bubble ---
**Author:** ![ProgRocker](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/progrocker/32/5434_2.png) [@ProgRocker](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ProgRocker)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 7:04pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/facebook-buys-whatsapp-for-19billion/268308/11 "2014-02-19T19:04:24Z")
> [@bing](#): > > facebook isnt driving away the younger generation, it’s that kids want to be where there parent’s aren’t… and that isn’t facebook. > > my mom and my grandmother are on FB commenting on every post that my wife or I make… it’s annoying as hell. This, I just “unfollowed” almost every friend in Facebook to clean up my feed. I’ve stopped posting on there because my family is like obligated to share their dumb opinion. I really wish Google+ would take off, it really is a great social network…minus the social part. You can find me on Twitter though. Sent from my MotoX using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Onyx\_Z32](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/onyx_z32/32/7581_2.png) [@Onyx\_Z32](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Onyx_Z32)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 7:05pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/facebook-buys-whatsapp-for-19billion/268308/12 "2014-02-19T19:05:15Z")
> [@ProgRocker](#): > > … You can find me on Twitter though. :tup: ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Eyed\_Devil](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/blue_eyed_devil/32/7292_2.png) [@Blue\_Eyed\_Devil](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Blue_Eyed_Devil)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/facebook-buys-whatsapp-for-19billion/268308/13 "2014-02-19T19:55:36Z")
A bubble burst would not surprise me for the reasons I posted… Kind of. Maybe if there were frequently new social mediums it would be harder to track every little thing about every little person… Maybe. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/bing/32/7211_2.png) [@bing](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 8:00pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/facebook-buys-whatsapp-for-19billion/268308/14 "2014-02-19T20:00:18Z")
> [@LZ](#): > > Almost all these social tech companies are extremely overvalued and setting up for another silicon valley bubble Amazon is prob the worst. company doesnt even turn a profit and it was trading at like x3100 P/E back in Jan…lol Still, the market is pricing these things for transformative growth which some will earn. imho, Facebook will do what investors are hoping it will do… If Google+ can’t become a worthy contender and Facebook keeps buying anything that could develop into a substitute then I think it’s trading at a fair value. - - - Updated - - - > **[How Things Change | TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2014/02/19/how-things-change/)** > > Four years ago, Brian Acton was looking for a job. His job at Yahoo, where he'd filled many engineering roles over 11 years, had come to an end. He was lol… FB and twitter turned down the creator of Whatsapp when he applied for jobs there 4 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Eyed\_Devil](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/blue_eyed_devil/32/7292_2.png) [@Blue\_Eyed\_Devil](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Blue_Eyed_Devil)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 8:02pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/facebook-buys-whatsapp-for-19billion/268308/15 "2014-02-19T20:02:14Z")
Muppet stock. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/bing/32/7211_2.png) [@bing](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 8:08pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/facebook-buys-whatsapp-for-19billion/268308/16 "2014-02-19T20:08:31Z")
zion bro ---
**Author:** ![LZ1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@LZ1](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/LZ1)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 4:52am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/facebook-buys-whatsapp-for-19billion/268308/17 "2014-02-20T04:52:20Z")
WhatsApp is now worth more than: Blackstone Group, Harley Davidson and The Gap. > Netflix: $25.6B > Tesla: $23.7B > Macy’s: $19.7B > WhatsApp: $19B > Whole Foods: $19B > Gap: $18.9B > Sony: $17.7B > United Airlines: $15.7B And only has 55 employees Valuing every single WhatsApp user at $42 each Any ways keeps the bubble going and keep prices in the pay area insane :tup: Some great stuff on other forums > _that sentiment has to do with the fact that for so many, Facebook was a personal experience that got turned into a trainwreck. That’s why people hate Google+. They don’t want yet another corporation selling their diary but pretending to be something else._ > Facebook continues to have their own internal stuff fail so they’re looking to others to innovate and then just buy them. > Facebook Poke, their SnapChat killer, bombed. > Facebook Paper was released a couple weeks ago. They claimed it would change content sharing. It did make it into the top 20 in the App Store but quickly fell and is down to #92 and keeps dropping. > They need to buy others as they can’t seem to do anything themselves. 2012 forbes article > **[Why Selling WhatsApp To Facebook Would Be The Biggest Mistake Of Jan Koum's...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericjackson/2012/12/03/why-selling-whatsapp-to-facebook-would-be-the-biggest-mistake-of-jan-koums-and-brian-actons-lives/)** > > There are strong rumors that WhatsApp founders, Jan Koum and Brian Acton, are thinking of selling out to Facebook. Here are 9 reasons why they shouldn't and play for the long haul as independent. > “All the hope and promise and potential for WhatsApp will die the day you hand the keys over to Mark Zuckerberg.” This is relevant to the attempted snapchat purchase > Yes. Zuck contacted the founder and wanted him to come see him. Dude told Zuck to come to him. Zuck came to see him but claimed he had a meeting in town which was why he was there, not because he was giving in. Zuck told dude that they would destroy them with their product they were launching and SnapChat would be no more in a matter of days. Facebook Poke launched. Facebook even changed the logo at one of their headquarters to the Poke logo. Poke bombed hard. Zuck offered them $3.2 billion for SnapChat and they turned him down. The think behind all this always is they’ve got so many users so if they can do something to make money, they’ve got the users to make that huge. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/bing/32/7211_2.png) [@bing](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 5:43am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/facebook-buys-whatsapp-for-19billion/268308/18 "2014-02-20T05:43:37Z")
i think people are just so stuck in their usage pattern on FB that it’s hard to get them to break out of that. look how pissed people got when timelines launched. snapchat seems stupid to me though, if i were those guys i would have taken the money and ran. ---
**Author:** ![Tunerfreak](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/tunerfreak/32/7427_2.png) [@Tunerfreak](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Tunerfreak)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 6:41am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/facebook-buys-whatsapp-for-19billion/268308/19 "2014-02-20T06:41:03Z")
- - - Updated - - - I never got into whatsapp or even saw the benefit of getting into it ---
**Author:** ![LZ1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@LZ1](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/LZ1)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 6:43am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/facebook-buys-whatsapp-for-19billion/268308/20 "2014-02-20T06:43:17Z")
> [@Tunerfreak](#): > > - > - > - Updated - - - > > I never got into whatsapp or even saw the benefit of getting into it It’s big outside of America Pretty much free texting [Next page](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/facebook-buys-whatsapp-for-19billion/268308.md?page=2)