Jan Koum (co founder and CEO WhatsApp) confirmed yesterday that he leaves the company publishing this message on his Facebook wall.
“It’s been almost a decade since Brian and I started WhatsApp, and it’s been an amazing journey with some of the best people. But it is time for me to move on. I’ve been blessed to work with such an incredibly small team and see how a crazy amount of focus can produce an app used by so many people all over the world.
I’m leaving at a time when people are using WhatsApp in more ways than I could have imagined. The team is stronger than ever and it’ll continue to do amazing things. I’m taking some time off to do things I enjoy outside of technology, such as collecting rare air-cooled Porsches, working on my cars and playing ultimate frisbee. And I’ll still be cheering WhatsApp on – just from the outside. Thanks to everyone who has made this journey possible.”
The co-founder of WhatsApo doesn’t tell about the reason why he resigns, but he didn’t answer Mark Zuckerberg who commented on Koum’s message : ” Jan: I will miss working so closely with you. I’m grateful for everything you’ve done to help connect the world, and for everything you’ve taught me, including about encryption and its ability to take power from entralized systems and put it back in people’s hands. Those values will always be at the heart of WhatsApp”.
Koum resigns amid the Cambridge Analytics scandal that evidenced the misuse of personal data of millions of Facebook users thanks to an app that Facebook had let into its network.
The Washington post tells that Koum could have decided to leave the company because issues relating to user security matters that he does not like, despite the co-founder of WhatsApp has always deffended that both apps WhatsApp and Telegram were secure for users.
Facebook acquired WhatsApp in 2014 for $19Bn consideration.
Image over the headline.- Jan Koum (co-founder and ex-CEO WhatsApp). Jan Koum.
