Former WhatsApp CBO Neeraj Arora opens up on historic Facebook acquisition, says nobody knew it would turn into 'Frankenstein devouring user data'

In what can be called the biggest acquisition of the century, Facebook acquired messaging platform WhatsApp in 2014 for a whopping USD 19 billion. It was a deal much bigger than any struck by tech giants Apple, Microsoft or Google, ever.

Interestingly, even before the historic acquisition, informal talks between both companies began two years before that. After much back-and-forth, opposition from privacy advocates, and several rounds of negotiations, WhatsApp was acquired by the tech behemoth.

However, with acquisitions, change is often inevitable. WhatsApp which is now the most widely used instant messaging application across the world is radically different from how it was during its conception. WhatsApp’s former Chief Business Officer (CBO) Neeraj Arora took to LinkedIn to express his regret over the biggest IT industry deal and what went wrong.


“In 2014, I was the Chief Business Officer of WhatsApp. And I helped negotiate the $22 billion sales to Facebook. Today, I regret it,” read the opening lines of Arora’s LinkedIn post in which he went on to elucidate the issues that stemmed from the multi-billion dollar deal.
Arora in his post said that WhatsApp was founded in 2009, five years before the acquisition, by Brian Acton and Jan Kuom. Arora joined WhatsApp in 2011 as its CBO. In 2012-13, the team was approached by Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook for the acquisition of the platform. Arora and his team initially declined the offer and focussed on future growth.

However, in 2014, Facebook approached Arora and his team again with a deal that seemed more like a partnership. The offer ensured full support for end-to-end encryption, no ads (ever), complete independence on product decisions, board seat for Jan Koum etc, he wrote.

The Radical Change
In his post, Arora also threw light on what made WhatsApp stand out in its initial years. He said that WhatsApp was the ideal tool for international communication for those with families staying across countries. It helped families stay connected without paying for long-distance SMS or calling services. He said that WhatsApp earned through the USD 1 dollar fee on downloading the application. According to Arora, Facebook agreed to their mission and vision. One of the founders, Brain even wrote the popular note - ‘No Ads, No Games, and No Gimmicks’.

Arora said that WhatsApp was clear about its stance and stood by its policy of no mining user data, no ads (ever), and no cross-platform tracking. The founder of HalloApp said that Facebook and its management agreed to WhatsApp’s mission and eventually it was acquired by Facebook for USD 22 billion (in cash and stock) in 2014. However, things did not happen as discussed. The former CBO said that in 2017 and 2018 things started to look very different.

In 2018, after the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal came to light, WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton sent a tweet that created ripples on Social Media. “It is time. #deletefacebook,” read Acton’s tweet.
Devouring User Data
According to Arora, WhatsApp is Facebook’s second-largest platform. However, it is merely a shadow of the product into which he and his team poured their hearts and wanted to build for the world. He went on to say that he is not the only person to regret WhatsApp’s acquisition. Arora emphasised that tech companies need to admit when they have done wrong. The former Google executive said that nobody fathomed that Facebook would become a Frankenstein monster that swindled user data for dirty money.

“Nobody knew in the beginning that Facebook would become a Frankenstein monster that devoured user data and spat out dirty money. We didn’t either. In order for Silicon Valley to evolve, we need to talk about how perverse business models cause well-intentioned products, services, and ideas to go wrong. And where we go from here,” wrote Arora while concluding his post on LinkedIn.