5/20/2023 0 Comments Fm whatsapp2020![]() ![]() We considered all historical acquisitions - not just technology companies - but may have overlooked some in areas that we know less well. ![]() Naspers’ investment in Tencent and Softbank/Yahoo’s investment in Alibaba are disqualified for this reason. In order to count for our list, acquisitions must be at least a majority stake in the target company (otherwise it’s just an investment).We hope you’ll give it a listen regardless, and we’re working on getting a transcript made ASAP, which we’ll post to the website when it’s ready. Our editors worked super hard to fix in post-production, but it’s still not totally perfect. Note: Unfortunately David’s audio quality in this episode was impacted by a technical glitch which we didn’t discover until after recording. Was this this worst acquisition of all-time, or a brilliant strategic chess move by Mark Zuckerberg & co? Tune in as we render Acquired’s judgement! Yet despite that enormous pricetag and all its associated fanfare, as we sit here 5+ years later WhatsApp actually generates LESS revenue than the meager ~$20m it was bringing in at the time of acquisition. We kick off Season 6 with a long-awaited Acquired Classic: Facebook’s $22B purchase of WhatsApp in 2014, which still ranks as the largest acquisition of a private VC-backed startup in history. The Complete History and Strategy of WhatsApp
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