WhatsApp purchase
The purchase processes of large companies are never quick or easy The latest proof that proves this is the media purchase of the application WhatsApp by the social network company Facebook A process that was announced does nothing less than eight months and closed officially and finally last Monday AND is that the outlay of so many millions of dollars and the control of an application that reaches so many millions of users needs certain regulations
That is why WhatsApp could not be considered part of Facebook until yesterday, after approval by the European Commission A body created to ensure that transactions in search of do not take place monopoly of a service that could end up harming users According to its resolution, both WhatsApp and Facebook are companies with different missions and functions, and the alternatives available both in social networks as in messaging applications allow the user to choose, without this transaction endangering the services that are offered.
Something very similar was the opinion of the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) of the United States, the first body to analyze and evaluate possible problems of the acquisition.A regulatory body that, in its case, did emphasize the privacy of WhatsApp users And it was very clear when recommending to those responsible to stay in its lines of argument about the protection of user information, recommending that it continue operating independent of Facebook Something in which the European Commission has decided not to intervene despite having been the most critical body in terms of espionage in such notorious cases such as that of the United States National Security Agency
However, much more curious is the data of the final price of the acquisition And it is that, if Facebook announced the disbursement of no less than 19 billion dollars between money and shares to take over the companyWhatsApp, it seems that the final price has closed at 21, 8 billion dollarsA notable increase due to the price that Facebook shares have reached on the stock market in recent months, which has also grown.
Of course, of that money Jan Koum, the CEO of WhatsApp, will only see one dollar a year Thus, just like the CEO of Facebook himself, the well-known Mark Zuckerberg , they have a symbolic salary that is compatible, yes, with a good pinch of Facebook shares, where is the real value of the company.
Now we just have to wait and see how events unfold, hoping that both companies, even though they are now one, continue to operate independently as those responsible have stated on several occasions. However, it would not be unusual to see changes in the policies or the use of its resources to the benefit of both.Something that only time will tell. Of course, observing the profitability of both, it is very difficult for WhatsApp to become completely free, so you will have to continue paying less than one euro a year to renew the service.
