Jan Koum

{ "bio": [ "Jan Koum cofounded WhatsApp, now the world's biggest mobile messaging service, in 2009.", "Facebook bought the startup for $22 billion in cash and stock in 2014.", "He resigned as CEO of WhatsApp in April 2018 and announced he would leave Facebook's board as well.", "Koum worked at Yahoo for nearly nine years before leaving to found WhatsApp.", "Now, he invests through his firm Newlands, which holds nearly 10 million Meta shares and building a portfolio of startups." ], "about": [ "Koum immigrated to California from Ukraine with his mother at age 16 and swept floors to make ends meet.", "Koum signed the deal to sell WhatsApp to Facebook in an abandoned building where he once collected food stamps as a teenager." ] }