6 ms·

WhatsApp's CEO Is Suddenly Leaving Facebook. It Could Cost Him $1B

53 points by mromanuk 9y ago

everdev 9y ago
> Koum’s decision may be made easier thanks to the $10.4 billion fortune he’s already accrued, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He’s already sold $8 billion worth of Facebook stock since 2015, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. What's the point of FU money if you never say FU? Good for him.
- 1024core 9y ago
  On the other hand: if he could hold his nose and hang on for another 7 months, he'd make $1B, which, if he donated to a cause, could really change things.
  - throwawaysecops 8y ago
    By that fucked up logic, everything anyone might ever want for themselves is rationalized away by a bunch of selfish dicks posting on the Internet telling people what they should do instead of a self actually doing anything for themselves. Facebook themselves could also "donate" this money, but they aren't because it's some made up bullshit you are seeing in your head, not reality.
  - crunchlibrarian 9y ago
    Lots of successful exits recently, many new millionaires and billionaires. Not a lot of causes changing things, at least not that I've been seeing. I did see a homeless encampment get bulldozed the other day. The day before that I watched a Vietnam Vet take a dump on the sidewalk, we made awkward eye contact. Not sure where all those billions are going but the "cause" does not seem to be moving forward.
    - deepsun 9y ago
      I'm just curious, how exactly you'd propose to change it?
      - deelowe 9y ago
        With money, of course.
        Egidius 9y ago
        Indeed. I'm inspired by Rutger Bregman who famously states in his book Utopia For Realists: > "It's more expensive to sustain poverty than it is to eradicate it" When is enough, enough? Do you really need that other billion when you already have a few? Giving money to the poor works: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/06/utopian-thinking-poverty-universal-basic-income https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/06/utopia...
    - mac01021 9y ago
      > I did see a homeless encampment get bulldozed the other day. The day before that I watched a Vietnam Vet take a dump on the sidewalk, we made awkward eye contact. Dude what state do you live in? I must live in a bubble over here...
      - drawnwren 9y ago
        Given that we're on HN and SF has notorious homeless problems, I'd say odds are high that it's somewhere in the Bay Area.
      - crunchlibrarian 9y ago
        Colorado
    - Smoofer 9y ago
      Two of your anecdotal experiences don't speak for the overall effectiveness of charity organizations.
      - crunchlibrarian 9y ago
        I'm not criticizing charity I'm criticizing tech millionaires. The world is coming unglued and they seem to care very little about the "scum" around them who make less than six figures.
  - toomuchtodo 9y ago
    7 months could be an eternal hell in his role.
  - Drakim 9y ago
    He could also quit today and Facebook could donate the $1B and you'd end up exactly the same.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - this_user 9y ago
    It might be question of opportunity costs for him. Maybe he has some project or idea that he wants to realise. Seven months can be a long time in the tech industry.
- kaolti 9y ago
  Joe Rogan fan right there.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
therealmarv 9y ago
If you have 10 billion+ you maybe do not care anymore.
- gamw_mana_sou 9y ago
  I hardly make 0.00001% of that per month. He got quite rich indeed.
whack 9y ago
> The stock vests in increments until late 2018, with 1.9 million shares due to vest in mid-May and mid-August, plus a final tranche of 2.1 million set to be issued in November. The guy could have collected $336M, if he had just stayed for 2 more weeks. If it were me, I would have just grinded out those 2 weeks, and given the extra $300M to my favorite charity. I guess he must have really hated being at FB...
- r00fus 9y ago
  It's highly likely his choice was more complicated than that. His net worth is $10B, so $300M isn't exactly pocket change, but it's possible by exiting now he got to make a statement and disavow involvement in future decisions. Is it possible this is his way of indicating a clear canary event?
  - cpeterso 9y ago
    Staying longer also has opportunity costs. The article says he will take "some time off to do things I enjoy", but perhaps one of the things he enjoys is a new $10B startup.
- Lionsion 9y ago
  > The guy could have collected $336M, if he had just stayed for 2 more weeks. If it were me, I would have just grinded out those 2 weeks, and given the extra $300M to my favorite charity. I guess he must have really hated being at FB... He he could've given an even larger donation to Signal than his co-founder did.
auchenberg 9y ago
With $10.4 billion, that would make it the annual return on his investments.
ronzensci 9y ago
Can someone give the link to Koum's Facebook post?
- esnard 9y ago
  https://www.facebook.com/jan.koum/posts/10156227307390011 https://www.facebook.com/jan.koum/posts/10156227307390011
  - exegete 9y ago
    Transcript: Jan Koum [verified checkmark] is [sad face emoji] feeling emotional. April 30 at 2:08pm [globe indicating shared with public] It's been almost a decade since Brian and I started WhatsApp, and it's been an amazing journey with some of the best people. But it is time for me to move on. I've been blessed to work with such an incredibly small team and see how a crazy amount of focus can produce an app used by so many people all over the world. I'm leaving at a time when people are using WhatsApp in more ways than I could have imagined. The team is stronger than ever and it'll continue to do amazing things. I'm taking some time off to do things I enjoy outside of technology, such as collecting rare air-cooled Porsches, working on my cars and playing ultimate frisbee. And I'll still be cheering WhatsApp on – just from the outside. Thanks to everyone who has made this journey possible.
rando444 9y ago
>The Washington Post reported earlier that Koum is exiting the company after clashing with Facebook over strategy I think it's a very important point to make that a large part of the strategy that was being debated was weakening the encryption. [0] At least as far as I'm concerned, that is one of the more important parts of the story that I don't feel is being discussed enough, or in cases of articles like this, entirely glossed over. [0] https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2018/04/hours-after-data-clash-report-whatsapp-founder-says-hes-leaving-facebook/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2018/04/hours...
samfisher83 9y ago
He could spend 500k a day every single day for 50+ years and still not spend what he has. I think at some point the money doesn't matters.
- Traubenfuchs 9y ago
  There is a difference between buying a small island for fun and buying a small island and building your own fully staffed pleasure paradise with an airport. My imagination has no limit on how to use infinite ever increasing amounts of money.
dnel 9y ago
I sometimes wonder what motivates obscenely rich people to continue working, particularly when that work is as controversial as Facebook. The values of these people are clearly different from mine. In Koum's shoes I'd probably make the same decision, he doesn't need to work another day in his life if he doesn't want to so he has no excuse to violate his personal beliefs.

53 points by mromanuk 9y ago

> Koum’s decision may be made easier thanks to the $10.4 billion fortune he’s already accrued, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He’s already sold $8 billion worth of Facebook stock since 2015, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. What's the point of FU money if you never say FU? Good for him.

1024core 9y ago
On the other hand: if he could hold his nose and hang on for another 7 months, he'd make $1B, which, if he donated to a cause, could really change things.
- throwawaysecops 8y ago
  By that fucked up logic, everything anyone might ever want for themselves is rationalized away by a bunch of selfish dicks posting on the Internet telling people what they should do instead of a self actually doing anything for themselves. Facebook themselves could also "donate" this money, but they aren't because it's some made up bullshit you are seeing in your head, not reality.
- crunchlibrarian 9y ago
  Lots of successful exits recently, many new millionaires and billionaires. Not a lot of causes changing things, at least not that I've been seeing. I did see a homeless encampment get bulldozed the other day. The day before that I watched a Vietnam Vet take a dump on the sidewalk, we made awkward eye contact. Not sure where all those billions are going but the "cause" does not seem to be moving forward.
  - deepsun 9y ago
    I'm just curious, how exactly you'd propose to change it?
    - deelowe 9y ago
      With money, of course.
      - Egidius 9y ago
        Indeed. I'm inspired by Rutger Bregman who famously states in his book Utopia For Realists: > "It's more expensive to sustain poverty than it is to eradicate it" When is enough, enough? Do you really need that other billion when you already have a few? Giving money to the poor works: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/06/utopian-thinking-poverty-universal-basic-income https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/06/utopia...
  - mac01021 9y ago
    > I did see a homeless encampment get bulldozed the other day. The day before that I watched a Vietnam Vet take a dump on the sidewalk, we made awkward eye contact. Dude what state do you live in? I must live in a bubble over here...
    - drawnwren 9y ago
      Given that we're on HN and SF has notorious homeless problems, I'd say odds are high that it's somewhere in the Bay Area.
    - crunchlibrarian 9y ago
      Colorado
  - Smoofer 9y ago
    Two of your anecdotal experiences don't speak for the overall effectiveness of charity organizations.
    - crunchlibrarian 9y ago
      I'm not criticizing charity I'm criticizing tech millionaires. The world is coming unglued and they seem to care very little about the "scum" around them who make less than six figures.
- toomuchtodo 9y ago
  7 months could be an eternal hell in his role.
- Drakim 9y ago
  He could also quit today and Facebook could donate the $1B and you'd end up exactly the same.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- this_user 9y ago
  It might be question of opportunity costs for him. Maybe he has some project or idea that he wants to realise. Seven months can be a long time in the tech industry.
kaolti 9y ago
Joe Rogan fan right there.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

therealmarv 9y ago

If you have 10 billion+ you maybe do not care anymore.

gamw_mana_sou 9y ago
I hardly make 0.00001% of that per month. He got quite rich indeed.

whack 9y ago

> The stock vests in increments until late 2018, with 1.9 million shares due to vest in mid-May and mid-August, plus a final tranche of 2.1 million set to be issued in November. The guy could have collected $336M, if he had just stayed for 2 more weeks. If it were me, I would have just grinded out those 2 weeks, and given the extra $300M to my favorite charity. I guess he must have really hated being at FB...

r00fus 9y ago
It's highly likely his choice was more complicated than that. His net worth is $10B, so $300M isn't exactly pocket change, but it's possible by exiting now he got to make a statement and disavow involvement in future decisions. Is it possible this is his way of indicating a clear canary event?
- cpeterso 9y ago
  Staying longer also has opportunity costs. The article says he will take "some time off to do things I enjoy", but perhaps one of the things he enjoys is a new $10B startup.
Lionsion 9y ago
> The guy could have collected $336M, if he had just stayed for 2 more weeks. If it were me, I would have just grinded out those 2 weeks, and given the extra $300M to my favorite charity. I guess he must have really hated being at FB... He he could've given an even larger donation to Signal than his co-founder did.

auchenberg 9y ago

With $10.4 billion, that would make it the annual return on his investments.

ronzensci 9y ago

Can someone give the link to Koum's Facebook post?

esnard 9y ago
https://www.facebook.com/jan.koum/posts/10156227307390011 https://www.facebook.com/jan.koum/posts/10156227307390011
- exegete 9y ago
  Transcript: Jan Koum [verified checkmark] is [sad face emoji] feeling emotional. April 30 at 2:08pm [globe indicating shared with public] It's been almost a decade since Brian and I started WhatsApp, and it's been an amazing journey with some of the best people. But it is time for me to move on. I've been blessed to work with such an incredibly small team and see how a crazy amount of focus can produce an app used by so many people all over the world. I'm leaving at a time when people are using WhatsApp in more ways than I could have imagined. The team is stronger than ever and it'll continue to do amazing things. I'm taking some time off to do things I enjoy outside of technology, such as collecting rare air-cooled Porsches, working on my cars and playing ultimate frisbee. And I'll still be cheering WhatsApp on – just from the outside. Thanks to everyone who has made this journey possible.

rando444 9y ago

>The Washington Post reported earlier that Koum is exiting the company after clashing with Facebook over strategy I think it's a very important point to make that a large part of the strategy that was being debated was weakening the encryption. [0] At least as far as I'm concerned, that is one of the more important parts of the story that I don't feel is being discussed enough, or in cases of articles like this, entirely glossed over. [0] https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2018/04/hours-after-data-clash-report-whatsapp-founder-says-hes-leaving-facebook/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2018/04/hours...

samfisher83 9y ago

He could spend 500k a day every single day for 50+ years and still not spend what he has. I think at some point the money doesn't matters.

Traubenfuchs 9y ago
There is a difference between buying a small island for fun and buying a small island and building your own fully staffed pleasure paradise with an airport. My imagination has no limit on how to use infinite ever increasing amounts of money.

dnel 9y ago

I sometimes wonder what motivates obscenely rich people to continue working, particularly when that work is as controversial as Facebook. The values of these people are clearly different from mine. In Koum's shoes I'd probably make the same decision, he doesn't need to work another day in his life if he doesn't want to so he has no excuse to violate his personal beliefs.