WhatsApp is the most-used instant messenger in the world, reporting more than 2.2 billion active users in 2021 alone. However, there has never been a WhatsApp IPO date, which means that people seeking to invest in the company need to find other avenues.
Luckily, WhatsApp’s parent company, Meta (NASDAQ: META), is publicly traded. This article will dive deeper into the history of WhatsApp and cover the business model that helped drive revenue growth for Facebook and Instagram over the past 9 years. Read on to learn how to invest in WhatsApp stock.
About WhatsApp
WhatsApp was founded in 2009 by two former employees of Yahoo, Brian Acton and Jan Koum, who conceptualized the idea while traveling around the world. The initial idea was to create an app where users could instantly update their contact list with a quick status, yet the platform really began to take off after the founders realized the appeal for a global instant messaging system.
By being able to circumvent SMS charges and send free instant messages over the internet using just a phone number, WhatsApp 2.0 became close to how it is known today. The platform gradually became more popular than other internet-based instant messengers such as iMessage, Blackberry Messenger (BBM) and Facebook Messenger, as it offered a way to communicate across all phone providers using just a mobile number and an internet connection.
Sequoia Capital invested $8 million in WhatsApp in 2011 for a 15% stake in the company. By 2013, the platform was now supporting 200 million active users, and Sequoia increased their investment by a further $50 million. Facebook, now Meta, then acquired WhatsApp in a $19 billion deal in 2014, and the company soon abandoned its paid model and introduced direct calls.
WhatsApp’s user count increased from 1.813B in Jan 2020 to 2.789B in May 2023. Source: Statista
Facebook became interested in WhatsApp after using its data analytics platform to track WhatsApp usage statistics. After shifting WhatsApp away from a paid model, WhatsApp data was fed into Facebook’s advertising system. This allowed Facebook to create targeted advertisements on both Facebook and Instagram, a move that led to controversy during a user privacy lawsuit for Mark Zuckerberg.
As of 2021, WhatsApp had 2.2 billion users worldwide and had just reported an annual revenue of $800 million — 78% higher than its 2018 figure. WhatsApp represents only a small proportion of Meta’s (formerly Facebook) total revenue, yet it plays an important role in both Instagram and Facebook’s ability to provide complex targeted advertising services to businesses around the world.
How to invest in WhatsApp?
Since it was acquired by Facebook in 2014, WhatsApp has been a privately owned subsidiary of the company. Facebook, now rebranded to Meta, has been available on the NASDAQ stock exchange since its IPO in May 2012. As a result, anyone seeking to gain exposure to WhatsApp should buy Meta stock.
Will there be a WhatsApp IPO?
As things stand, Meta has no plans to announce a WhatsApp IPO date. The company may decide to do so at its own discretion, but the role of WhatsApp within Meta’s company structure means that this is unlikely to occur.
Meta has an effective monopoly over advertising across its platforms, which have billions of users between them. Despite being hit with a user privacy lawsuit, WhatsApp still helps to feed the advertising algorithms through the use of cookies and opt-in terms and conditions.
Since advertising makes up the bulk of Meta’s revenue, it is widely understood that a WhatsApp IPO date is unlikely to happen anytime soon.
How to invest in WhatsApp FAQs
Is WhatsApp on the stock market?
WhatsApp is not available on the stock market. It was acquired by Facebook in 2014, so the best way to gain exposure to WhatsApp would be to buy Meta stock.
Who owns WhatsApp now?
WhatsApp was purchased by Facebook during a $19 billion takeover in 2014. Since then, WhatsApp is fully owned by Meta, which was rebranded from Facebook in 2021.
When is the WhatsApp IPO date?
There are currently no plans for a WhatsApp IPO date, and this doesn’t look likely to change anytime soon. However, Facebook launched its IPO in May 2012, which means that investors can gain exposure to the company by purchasing shares in Meta.
The bottom line: WhatsApp is not a publicly traded company, but you can gain exposure through its parent company Meta
WhatsApp has become the world’s most popular instant messaging application, with more than 2.2 billion users across the globe. WhatsApp, however, has never hosted an IPO as it instead received private investment, including a $58 million cash injection from Sequoia Capital.
After being acquired by Facebook in 2014, WhatsApp became integral to the Facebook business model. Anyone seeking to invest in WhatsApp should buy Meta stock, as this is the best way to gain direct exposure to the instant messaging app.
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Source: https://coincodex.com/article/33058/whatsapp-stock/