X

WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton to leave company

Acton says he's departing the popular Facebook-owned messaging app to form his own foundation.

Steven Musil Night Editor / News
Steven Musil is the night news editor at CNET News. He's been hooked on tech since learning BASIC in the late '70s. When not cleaning up after his daughter and son, Steven can be found pedaling around the San Francisco Bay Area. Before joining CNET in 2000, Steven spent 10 years at various Bay Area newspapers.
Expertise I have more than 30 years' experience in journalism in the heart of the Silicon Valley.
Steven Musil
wa143482184844d4c766758o.jpg

Brian Acton is leaving WhatsApp to found his own foundation.

Paul Sakuma

Brian Acton, a co-founder of the popular messaging app WhatsApp , said Tuesday he will leave the Facebook-owned company to launch his own foundation.

Acton, who founded the popular messaging app with WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum in 2009, said in a Facebook post his foundation will focus on the intersection of nonprofit, technology and communications.

"It's something I've thought about for a while, and now it's time to just focus and execute," Acton said. "I'll have more to share in the coming months."

Acton, a graduate of Stanford University and former employee of Apple , met Koum while both were working at Yahoo . The pair left Yahoo in 2007 and launched WhatsApp two years later.

The app, which lets users send missives to one another over the internet rather than using traditional SMS messages through a phone carrier, reaches a billion customers each month. It's growing particularly fast in Brazil, Mexico, Russia and India.

Facebook bought the company for $19 billion, helping to give the 45-year-old Acton a net worth of $6.5 billion, according to Forbes.

Facebook didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Acton's departure.

Special Reports: All of CNET's most in-depth features in one easy spot.

It's Complicated: This is dating in the age of apps. Having fun yet? These stories get to the heart of the matter.