SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Facebook’s announcement it is paying $19 billion in cash and stock to acquire WhatsApp is a milestone in the short history of mobile messaging apps. Hundreds of millions of people have downloaded such apps to their smartphones and tablets to chat and share photos and videos for free, making them potent rivals to Facebook. WhatsApp alone has 450 million active monthly users.
The stunning price tag for a company that employs just 55 people is likely to boost valuations of other messaging applications and also stoke worries about a new tech bubble. Many of the apps are still figuring out how to make money from big pools of users.
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