Facebook bets on #mobile, buys #WhatsApp for $19 billion

San Francisco. Facebook is betting huge on mobile with an eye-popping cash-and-stock deal worth up to $19 billion (TSh 30.9 trillion) for Internet Age smartphone messaging service WhatsApp.

The surprise, mega-deal announced on Wednesday bolsters the world's biggest social network -- which has more than 1.2 billion members -- with the 450-million-strong WhatsApp, which will be operated independently with its own board.

It fits with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's focus on being at the center of lifestyles in which billions of people around the world share whatever they wish over the Internet using smartphones or tablets.

It is Facebook's biggest acquisition and comes less than two years after the California-based Internet star raised $16 billion in the richest tech sector public stock offering.

Zuckerberg said that WhatsApp -- a cross-platform mobile app which allows users to exchange messages without having to pay telecom charges -- was worth the steep price because its blistering growth around the globe has it on a clear path to hit a billion users and beyond.

"Services with a billion people using them are all incredibly valuable," Zuckerberg said while discussing the purchase price during a conference call with analysts.

‘The deal that might never have been’

The deal came from a chat Zuckerberg had with WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum, whom he described as a "valuable thought partner" and friend of many years.

The curious thing is, Facebook may never have had to buy WhatsApp in the first place if they’d had the wisdom to talk to former Yahoo engineer Brian Acton in 2009.

It might have been developed in-house. 4 years ago, Mr Acton tried to get hired by both Facebook and Twitter, according to Techcrunch writer Greg Kumparak.

Both companies turned him down. So he and his one-time Yahoo colleague, Kaum went on to found a little messaging app.

Today, Mark Zuckerberg has had to pay USD 19 billion for a seat at the WhatsApp table.