Facebook to pay about 10% of Romania's GDP for messaging app WhatsApp

Social media company Facebook has recently agreed to pay some USD 19 billion for messaging service WhatsApp, an amount equivalent to around 10 percent of Romania's GDP in 2012, or two and a half times the 2013 turnover of Romania's largest company Petrom. This is one of the largest Internet deals in years, and should bring Facebook, which already has social media supremacy, a much needed chatting addition, which is expected to boost its popularity among teenage users. WhatsApp is adding about a million users per day, Facebook co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said on his page on Wednesday. "WhatsApp will complement our existing chat and messaging services to provide new tools for our community," he wrote on his Facebook page. "Since WhatsApp and (Facebook) Messenger serve such different and important users, we will continue investing in both. The recent USD 19 billion deal is made of cash and stock, and WhatsApp co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Jan Koum will join Facebook's board. The deal surpasses the GDPs of countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Honduras and Nepal, countries with a economies valued at USD 18 bln in 2012. It falls just short of trumping Afghanistan's economy with its GDP of USD 20 bln. Facebook paid USD 1 billion to buy photo app Instagram in 2012. By the end of 2013, Facebook boasted 1.23 billion monthly active users worldwide, and 757 million users log on to Facebook daily. The social network's founder Mark Zuckerberg, 29, has a net worth of USD 19 billion, according to Forbes. WhatsApp is a cross – platform messaging app iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Phone and Nokia. editor@romania-insider.com