Facebook buys Whatapps for $19 billion… but why?

Facebook buying Whatsapp for $19 billion may have surprised a few people, despite the social giant having paid out huge sums of money over the last few years to acquire other companies like Instagram but this is definitely the biggest purchase they have made to date!

Whatsapp, while not very popular in the US had a huge following worldwide with over 450 million users! The app is an instant messaging service that replaces text messaging and allows users to send messages while they are connected to the internet. There are many other services like this but Whatsapp is the most popular.

Facebook spent $16 billion plus $3 billion in stock for the app but why?

According to Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder and CEO, Whatsapp poised to have more than a billion users in the near future, potentially being a threat to Facebook. However the main reason for the acquirement of Whatsapp is for it to be a building block for Zuckerberg’s internet.org project, where he hopes to bring the internet to parts of the world that are not connected (around two thirds of the world isn't connect to the internet).

The attainment of Whatsapp was a massive business and marketing move for Facebook, who make huge moves fairly often, which usually are done not only to grow their bottom line but also for marketing purposes.

The social giant is a main player in the growth of the internet around the world, most likely to help build Facebook into a wider worldwide sensation!