To whom does Viber WhatsApp belong - briefly?
To whom does Viber WhatsApp belong? Viber is owned by Rakuten Inc., a Japanese electronic commerce and Internet company, while WhatsApp is owned by Meta Platforms Inc., formerly known as Facebook Inc.
To whom does Viber WhatsApp belong - in detail?
The ownership of Viber and WhatsApp, two prominent messaging platforms, can be traced back to their respective founders and subsequent acquisitions by major technology companies.
Viber was founded in 2010 by Talmon Marco and Igor Magazinnik. Originally developed as a voice over IP (VoIP) application, Viber quickly gained popularity for its free messaging and calling services. In February 2014, Viber was acquired by Rakuten, a Japanese e-commerce and internet company, for $900 million. This acquisition allowed Viber to expand its services and integrate them with other Rakuten platforms, enhancing the overall user experience.
WhatsApp, on the other hand, was created in 2009 by Brian Acton and Jan Koum. Initially, WhatsApp focused on providing a simple and efficient messaging service. The application's success led to its acquisition by Facebook in February 2014 for approximately $19 billion. This significant investment highlighted Facebook's interest in expanding its reach into the mobile messaging market. Following the acquisition, WhatsApp has continued to operate as an independent entity within the Facebook ecosystem, although there have been efforts to integrate some of its features with other Facebook platforms like Instagram and Messenger.
In summary, Viber is owned by Rakuten, while WhatsApp is a subsidiary of Meta Platforms (formerly known as Facebook). Both acquisitions reflect the strategic importance of messaging platforms in the digital communication landscape and their potential for integration with other services offered by their parent companies.