WhatsApp is owned by Meta (the United States, NASDAQ: META), which acquired the brand on 6 October 2014.[1][2] WhatsApp was founded in 2009 in the United States and was independent until 2014.
WhatsApp was founded by two former Yahoo engineers and sold to Facebook in 2014 for about $19 billion, the largest price ever paid for a venture-backed company at the time. It is the dominant messaging service across India, Brazil, Indonesia and much of Europe and Africa.
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Facebook acquired WhatsApp for approximately $19 billion in cash and stock, the largest sum ever paid for a venture-backed company at the time. The European Commission cleared the deal in October 2014.
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The parent company of WhatsApp is Meta, a publicly listed company headquartered in the United States.
Yes. WhatsApp originated in the United States in 2009 and its owner, Meta, is also headquartered in the United States.
Meta completed its acquisition of WhatsApp on 6 October 2014, after announcing the deal on 19 February 2014.
WhatsApp was an independent company from its founding in 2009 until Meta acquired it in 2014.
Yes. As of 6 September 2026, WhatsApp is still owned by Meta. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
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