Just one FB acquisition...not so long ago. WhatsApp Acquisition
WhatsApp is an ad-free mobile application that allows users to send unlimited messages to contacts without using the wireless network or sustaining data fees. The app is free to download and is an alternative to the cell provider’s traditional text messaging platform. The app was founded by Jan Koum and Brian Acton, two former Yahoo! executives.
When Facebook announced its plans to acquire WhatsApp in February 2014, WhatsApp's founders attached a purchase price of $16 billion: $4 billion in cash and $12 billion remaining in Facebook shares. This price tag is dwarfed by the actual price Facebook paid: $21.8 billion, or $55 per user.
Facebook agreed to pay $19.6 billion—adding $3.6 billion to the original price as compensation to WhatsApp employees for staying on board at Facebook. However, Facebook share prices soared to $77.56 from $68 by the time the regulatory approval process concluded in October. By then, the agreed upon 184 million Facebook shares inflated the final sale price by an additional $1.7 billion.
WhatsApp’s six-month revenue for the first half of 2014 totaled $15.9 million and the company incurred a staggering net loss of $232.5 million, though the majority of that loss was for share-based compensation.