He was formerly employed at Yahoo!. In 2009, Jan Koum and Acton co-founded WhatsApp,[4] a mobile messaging application which was acquired by Facebook in February 2014 for US$19 billion. Acton left WhatsApp in September 2017 to start the Signal Foundation.[5] According to Forbes (2020), Acton is the 836th-richest person in the world, with a net worth of $2.5 billion.[4]
Two years after Acton joined Yahoo, Jan Koum was hired as an infrastructure engineer shortly after he met Acton while working at Ernst & Young as a security tester.[10] Over the next nine years, the two worked together at Yahoo. Acton lost millions in the dot-com bubble of 2000. In September 2007, Koum and Acton left Yahoo! and took a year off, traveling around South America. They both tried to get jobs at Facebook, but weren't hired.
In January 2009, Koum bought an iPhone and realized that the then seven-month-old App Store was about to spawn a whole new industry of apps. He visited his friend Alex Fishman and talked about developing an app.[10] Koum almost immediately chose the name WhatsApp because it sounded like "what's up", and a week later on his birthday, Feb. 24, 2009, he incorporated WhatsApp Inc. in California.[10]
In 2014, Koum and Acton sold WhatsApp to Facebook for approximately US$19 billion in cash and stock.[8]Forbes estimated that Acton held over 20% stake in the company, making his net worth around $3.8 billion.[11]
In 2016, Acton led a funding round for Trak N Tell and raised $3.5 million along with two other investors.[12][13]
In September 2017, Acton left WhatsApp.[14] Acton told Forbes that he left over a dispute with Facebook regarding monetization of WhatsApp, and voluntarily left $850 million in unvested options on the table by leaving a few months before vesting was completed.[15][16] He also said that he was coached by Facebook executives to mislead European regulators regarding Facebook's intention to merge Facebook and WhatsApp user data.[17]
Signal
Acton left WhatsApp in September 2017 to start a new foundation, the Signal Foundation, which is dedicated to helping people have access to private communication through an encrypted messaging app.[18][19] Signal is widely used by journalists and human rights activists.[20]
In February 2018, it was announced that Acton was investing $50 million into Signal.[9] This funding was a loan from Acton to the new non-profit Signal Technology Foundation. By the end of 2018, the loan had increased to $105,000,400, due to be repaid on February 28, 2068. The loan is unsecured and carries nil interest.[21]
On March 20, 2018, Forbes reported that Acton had publicly tweeted support for the #DeleteFacebook movement, in a "new level of public backlash".[22] In November 2019, the journalist Steven Levy asked Acton why he decided to make his feelings so public. Acton said he felt that it was time because there was pressure unfolding against Facebook.[23]
Acton is currently a board member of the Signal Foundation.[24]
Other activities
Philanthropy
Since 2014, Acton and his wife Tegan started to build a philanthropic network through the foundation Wildcard Giving, with three sister foundations: Sunlight Giving, Acton Family Giving and Solidarity Giving.[25]
The couple started Sunlight Giving in 2014,[26][27] a family foundation dedicated to supporting the basic services of low-income families with young children ages 0–5.[28] It also provides support for safe spaces and organizations that ensure food security, housing stability, and healthcare access. The foundation supports low-income families with children age five and below living in the San Francisco Bay Area.[29] Sunlight Giving has $470 million in assets. It granted $6.4 million in 2015, $19.2 million in 2016, and $23.6 million in 2017.[29] This private foundation helped to fund Magnify Community, a non-profit organization with the goal of redirecting philanthropists' givings to nonprofits.[30]
Also in 2014, Acton helped establish Acton Family Giving and Solidarity Giving.[31]
In 2019, Forbes reported that Brian Acton and his wife had given more than $1 billion to charitable causes over their lifetimes.[32]
^Marlinspike, Moxie; Acton, Brian (February 21, 2018). "Signal Foundation". Signal.org. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
^"Statement of Information". businesssearch.sos.ca.gov. California Secretary of State. August 28, 2018. Archived from the original(PDF) on January 24, 2021. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
^Marlinspike, Moxie (January 10, 2022). "New Year, New CEO". signal.org. Signal Foundation. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
^Çam, Deniz. "These Are The Biggest Givers On The Forbes 400". Forbes. Retrieved June 28, 2020. Acton and his wife Tegan, on the other hand, have been expanding their philanthropic network, Wildcard Giving, which they founded in 2014 after Acton sold WhatsApp to Facebook. The couple has given away more than $1 billion to charitable causes.
