Whatsapp was privately valued at $19B by way of acquisition. Proactively buying growing competitors to defend a moat, even competitors with hundreds of millions

Whatsapp was privately valued at $19B by way of acquisition. Proactively buying growing competitors to defend a moat, even competitors with hundreds of millions of users, does not establish a valuation the same way an IPO does. I don't have a strong opinion on Snap's IPO (I guess I hope it does well for industry health?) but I strongly push back on using private acquisitions as a barometer of IPO health.