Mark Zuckerberg has admitted he thinks WhatsApp is worth more than the $16 billion Facebook paid for it.
Facebook announced that it had “reached a definitive agreement to acquire WhatsApp”, earlier this month, buying the company for $4 billion in cash and $12 billion in Facebook stocks.
Speaking during his MWC 2014 keynote, the Facebook founder said the WhatsApp instant messaging service is actually worth more than the figure it was sold for.
“It is a company by itself, and then there’s the strategic value in what we can do together,” said Zuckerberg when asked about the figure paid for WhatsApp.
However, Zuckerberg explained that the positivity of the WhatsApp buyout has benefits for both parties.
“By being a part of Facebook it makes its focus purely on connecting a billion people,” he explained. “What Jan [Koum, WhatsApp CEO and founder] is more excited about is for them to go out and connect one, two, three billion more people.”
Zuckerberg was also asked about what Facebook would do with the data collected by WhatsApp. Currently WhatsApp is adament it stores none of the data it sees from its users.
“That’s absolutely not going to change. The vision is to keep the service exactly the same. All the photos you’re sending. WhatsApp doesn’t even store them.”
Earlier today, WhatsApp announced that voice calling would be introduced to the service by Q2 2014, starting with Android and iOS.
“We’re adding voice to WhatsApp so people can stay in touch with friends and loved ones no matter where they are in the world.”
Read more: Facebook buys WhatsApp – How, why and will Zuckerberg kill it?
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.