The world's newest multi-billionaires and hundred-millionaires are the founders and employees of WhatsApp, a messaging company purchased for $19 billion by Facebook.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the buyout would be an average split of $345 million for each of the 55 employees, but the company founders are expected to make billions on the deal.
$19 billion is a new record purchase for a company backed by a venture capital. WhatsApp, an app that acts as an alternative to texting, was founded in 2009 and now processes about 450 million users a month. The app is offered to users for free for one year and then the rate jumps to .99¢ per year.
The deal also massively exceeds Facebook's purchase of Instagram and Google's acquisition of Waze, each for just more than $1 billion. It also dwarfs Microsoft's purchase of Skype for $8.5 billion and also the $3 billion offer Facebook made to Snapchat.
Jan Koum, from the Ukraine, founded the company along with an American man named Brian Acton. Jim Goetz, of Sequoia Capital, wrote that Koum's invention came from a life that more often than not restricted his communication.
"Jan's childhood made him appreciate communication that was not bugged or taped," Goetz wrote. "When he arrived in the U.S. as a 16-year-old immigrant living on food stamps, he had the extra incentive of wanting to stay in touch with his family in Russia and the Ukraine."
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg originally reached out to Koum in the spring of 2012, but the transaction was finished in about two weeks. Sources told the Wall Street Journal the two stayed in contact and occasionally met for dinner and hiking. Earlier this month, Zuckerberg made a formal pitch and, on Valentine's Day, Koum visited the Los Altos home of the Facebook CEO and accepted the deal.
Formerly a Yahoo Inc. engineer for about 10 years, Koum will now sit on Facebook's board of directors.
Facebook will likely use WhatsApp to reach a younger demographic that is heavily involved in texting and Snapchat.
