Brian Acton
| Brian Acton | |
|---|---|
 Brian Acton (right) | |
| Born |
February 17, 1972 Michigan |
| Residence | California |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Stanford University (BS) |
| Occupation |
Co-founder of WhatsApp Co-founder and executive chairman of Signal Foundation |
| Organization | Signal Foundation |
| Known for |
Co-founded WhatsApp with Jan Koum in 2009 Co-founded Signal Foundation with Moxie Marlinspike in 2018 |
| Net worth |
 |
Brian Acton (born February 17, 1972) is an American computer programmer and Internet entrepreneur. He is the co-founder (with Jan Koum) of WhatsApp,[2] a mobile messaging application which was acquired by Facebook Inc. in February 2014 for US$19 billion. He was formerly employed at Yahoo Inc. In September 2017, Acton announced that he was leaving WhatsApp to start a foundation.[3] On February 21, 2018, Acton and Moxie Marlinspike announced the formation of the Signal Foundation.[4]
Early life and education
Acton, born in Michigan, grew up in Central Florida,[5] where he graduated from Lake Howell High School. Acton received a full scholarship to study engineering at the University of Pennsylvania but left after a year to study at Stanford.[6] He graduated from Stanford University in 1994 with a degree in computer science.[7]
Career
In 1992, he became a systems administrator for Rockwell International, before becoming a product tester at Apple Inc. and Adobe Systems. In 1996, he became the 44th employee hired by Yahoo Inc.[8]
Yahoo
In 1998, Jan Koum was hired by Yahoo as an infrastructure engineer shortly after he met Acton while working at Ernst & Young as a security tester.[9] Over the next nine years, they worked at Yahoo. Acton invested in the dotcom boom and lost millions in the dot-com bubble of 2000. In September 2007 Koum and Acton left Yahoo and took a year off, traveling around South America and playing ultimate frisbee. Both applied, and failed, to work at Facebook. In January 2009, Koum bought an iPhone and realized that the then seven-month-old App Store was about to spawn a whole new industry of apps. He visited his friend Alex Fishman and talked about developing an app.[9] Koum almost immediately chose the name WhatsApp because it sounded like “what’s up”, and a week later on his birthday, Feb. 24, 2009, he incorporated WhatsApp Inc. in California.[9]
In 2014, Koum and Acton agreed to sell WhatsApp to Facebook for approximately $19 billion USD in cash and stock.[7] Forbes estimates that Acton held over 20% stake in the company, making his net worth around $3.8 billion.[10] According to Acton's personal Twitter feed, he was turned down for employment by both Twitter and Facebook in 2009.[7] In September 2017, Acton left WhatsApp.[11] Acton told Forbes that he left over a dispute with Facebook regarding monetization of WhatsApp, and voluntarily left $850 million in unvested options on the table by leaving a few months before vesting was completed.[12][13] He also noted that he was coached by Facebook executives to mislead European regulators regarding Facebook's intention to merge Facebook and WhatsApp user data.[14]
Philanthropy
Acton and his wife Tegan Acton started Sunlight Giving in 2014.[15][16] Sunlight Giving is a family foundation dedicated to supporting the basic services of low-income families with young children ages 0–5.[17]
Acton left WhatsApp in September 2017 to start a new foundation, the Signal Foundation.[18] On March 20, 2018, Forbes reported that Acton had publicly tweeted support for the #DeleteFacebook movement, in a "new level of public backlash".[19]
Personal life
He is married to Tegan Acton. Contrary to reports, he is not married or related to Marina Acton, a celebrity.[20]
References
- ↑ Forbes: The World's Billionaires – Brian Acton March 2014
- ↑ "Brian Acton". Forbes.
- ↑ CNBC (2017-09-13). "WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton to leave company". CNBC. Retrieved 2017-10-10.
- ↑ Marlinspike, Moxie; Acton, Brian (21 February 2018). "Signal Foundation". Signal.org. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
- ↑ Zuckerberg Bonded With WhatsApp CEO Over Coffee and Dinners
- ↑ Burnett, Richard (February 25, 2015). "Billionaire-to-be Brian Acton got tech start at Lake Howell High". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
- 1 2 3 Wood, Zoe (February 20, 2014). "Facebook turned down WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton for job in 2009". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
- ↑ "WhatsApp Co-Founder Puts $50M Into Signal To Supercharge Encrypted Messaging". WIRED. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
- 1 2 3 Parmy Olson (February 19, 2014). "Exclusive: The Rags-To-Riches Tale Of How Jan Koum Built WhatsApp Into Facebook's New $19 Billion Baby". Forbes. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
- ↑ Mac, Ryan (February 19, 2014). "WhatsApp Founders Become Billionaires In $19 Billion Facebook Deal". Forbes. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
- ↑ "WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton is leaving to start a non-profit". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
- ↑ Lomas, Natasha (September 27, 2018). "WhatsApp founder, Brian Acton, says Facebook used him to get its acquisition past EU regulators". Techcrunch. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
- ↑ Olson, Parmy. "Exclusive: WhatsApp Cofounder Brian Acton Gives The Inside Story On #DeleteFacebook And Why He Left $850 Million Behind". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
- ↑ Lomas, Natasha (September 27, 2018). "WhatsApp founder, Brian Acton, says Facebook used him to get its acquisition past EU regulators". Techcrunch. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
- ↑ Brian Acton. "our story". Retrieved June 19, 2018.
- ↑ "WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton invested $50 million into the Signal app — here's how he spends his $6.9 billion fortune". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
- ↑ "Brian and Tegan Acton". Retrieved June 19, 2018.
- ↑ "WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton to leave company". Reuters. September 12, 2017.
- ↑ "WhatsApp Cofounder Promotes #deletefacebook Amid Cambridge Analytica Scandal", Kathleen Chaykowski, Forbes, March 21, 2018
- ↑ "Kim & Kanye sell for nearly $18 million cash to billionaire Brian Acton's wife Marina". Yolanda's Little Black Book. 2017-11-11. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
