Is WhatsApp, Facebook’s Biggest Acquisition, Paying Off A Decade Later?

Facebook, now called Meta, acquired WhatsApp for a historic $19 billion in 2014. Today, over half of the world’s internet users also use WhatsApp, but the free messaging service has never generated much revenue. Now though, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says that he views WhatsApp as Meta’s “next chapter” when it comes to monetization.

CNBC spoke with WhatsApp Head of Product Alice Newton-Rex, who said that WhatsApp’s emerging business messaging services will drive revenue growth, as companies pay a fee to interact with customers on the platform. But it remains to be seen whether business messaging through WhatsApp will take off, as the current market is dominated by regular SMS messaging. And that future is especially unclear in the U.S., where WhatsApp has struggled to gain traction.

Chapters:
00:00 — Introduction
01:57 — History of WhatsApp
04:55 — Monetization
08:00 — What’s next

Produced and Shot by: Katie Brigham
Edited by: Nic Golden Henry
Additional Reporting: Jonathan Vanian
Additional Camera: Sydney Boyo, Andrew Evers
Graphics: Jason Reginato
Supervising Producer: Jeniece Pettitt
Additional Footage: WhatsApp, Meta, Lauren Choo, Getty Images