Facebook buying Whatsapp for $16 Billion? WHY??

[Phunsukh27]

Zuckerberg said that WhatsApp — a cross-platform mobile app that 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.

Silicon Valley-based WhatsApp started the year with 50 employees, most of them engineers, and the startup said that all of its stakeholders have approved the take-over.

The purchase includes $12 billion in Facebook shares and $4 billion in cash. It calls for an additional $3 billion in restricted stock units to be granted to WhatsApp founders and employees that will vest over four years.