Brian Acton, who along with his long-time friend Jan Koum helped found WhatsApp messenger has said in a Facebook post that he will leave the company and plans on starting a non-profit of his own.
Acton had been a part of WhatsApp,Inc. the world's most popular messaging company for over eight years and headed the engineering team. Prior to founding WhatsApp, Acton and fellow co-founder Jan Koum worked at Yahoo, Inc.
Acton posted his decision to leave the company on his Facebook page on Tuesday, "After 8 years at WhatsApp, I have decided to move on and start a new chapter in my life."
Announcing his exit, Acton further said in the post, "I've decided to start a non-profit focused at 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. I'll have more to share in the coming months."
WhatsApp was co-founded by former Yahoo employees Brian Acton and Jan Koum in 2009. Facebook, Inc. acquired WhatsApp for a whooping $19 billion in October 2014, since then WhatsApp has been a part of Facebook, Inc. In July this year, WhatsApp had a reported 1.3 billion active monthly users worldwide.
Acton's decision to leave the company comes at a time when Facebook is planing of charging certain WhatsApp users especially companies for subscribed services. Meanwhile, Jan Koum will continue to remain as the CEO of WhatsApp Inc.
