WhatsApp's Brian Acton and Jan Koum are billionaires thanks to a $19 billion deal with Facebook. (Photo: Robert Gallagher for Forbes)Facebook just made two more Silicon Valley entrepreneurs into billionaires.
On Wednesday, the Menlo Park, Calif.-based company announced a record $19 billion for messaging service WhatsApp. That deal instantly takes WhatsApp cofounders Jan Koum and Brian Acton into the realm of 10-figure fortunes.
FORBES estimates that Koum held about a 45% stake in the company, while Acton's stake was over 20%.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Facebook said it would paying for the deal with nearly 184 million shares, $4 billion in cash and nearly 46 million restricted stock units (RSUs), valuing the acquisition at over $19 billion. After disregarding the RSUs, which are not immediately exercisable, and assessing taxes, FORBES estimates that Koum is worth $6.8 billion while Acton is worth at least $3 billion as of Facebook's closing share price on Thursday.
Messages left with WhatApp were not immediately returned on Wednesday.
Additional reporting from Parmy Olson in San Francisco and Brian Solomon and Alex Konrad in New York. Follow me on Twitter at @RMac18 or email me at rmac@forbes.com.
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