Inside Story: Why Facebook Paid $16B for WhatsApp?

Facebook's biggest acquistion, its 16 times larger than that social network paid. Facebook spent $16 billion to acquire WhatsApp, $4 billion in cash and $12 billion in Facebook stock and $3 billion more for next four years of stock.

For those who are not aware of WhatsApp software, let me tell you its text messaging replacement app that allows you to send messages to any of your stored contacts or even if you don't have their number. Pictures, Videos, Audio everything can be send.

With 450 million users of WhatsApp, it has become popular in some of the regions with India, as small budget smart-phones can also use this software and so it is widely popular.

Why Facebook Paid $16B for buying WhatsApp?

Zuckerberg said: "buying WhatsApp helps Facebook's Internet.org project"

Mark Zuckerberg said that WhatsApp is on track to have more than a billion users and he also got more specific that buying WhatsApp – its mission to provide internet access to the two-thirds of the world which is not yet connected.

And more to it that he says – Facebook didnt acquire WhatsApp to replace Facebook Messenger. Both would have their independent way of using it. Messenger acting more like email and WhatsApp more like Real Time.

But Facebook paid $16 billion for it because it achieved what Facebook couldn't on its own and with that mindset and looking to the active use in parts of the world where still mobile market needs to be exposed.

So finally now everyone has a mobile smartphone with the software owned by a facebook.