Google made last-ditch effort to block WhatsApp-Facebook deal, was willing to pay more than $19B
Source: AI/The Information
Additional inside details on the Facebook-WhatsApp deal were revealed on Thursday by The Information, which cited three unnamed sources involved with the deal. Those people reportedly said that Google was willing to top Facebook's $19 billion deal, as the search giant was apparently extremely eager to bring WhatsApp under its own umbrella.
Page also made a last-minute effort to WhatsApp Chief Executive Jan Koum, offering him the ability to keep his company independent and continue competing with Facebook while using Google's deep pockets.
The sales pitch by Page wasn't enough, as WhatsApp officials reportedly felt that it was Facebook, not Google, that would allow them to operate more independently. WhatsApp executives also reportedly felt they had more of a "shared vision" with Facebook than Google.
Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg's own pitch to WhatsApp included offering Koum a seat on his company's board of directors. Zuckerberg also reportedly told WhatsApp that he was interested in diversifying his company's business model, which currently relies almost entirely on advertising. WhatsApp charges users 99 cents per year to access its messaging services.
Read more: http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/02/20/google-made-last-ditch-effort-to-block-whatsapp-facebook-deal-was-willing-to-pay-more-than-19b
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