WhatsApp boss Will Cathcart has announced that he is leaving his role.
Cathcart has overseen Meta’s popular messaging platform for nearly seven years – and scaled its private chat functions to more than three billion users worldwide.He said in posts on social media on Monday that while the platform was in “the strongest position it’s ever been” it also “felt like the right moment to step back”.
Cathcart will continue to play a role within Meta’s leadership ranks, with Kunal Shah, founder of Indian fintech start-up Cred, taking over as head of WhatsApp.
Facebook founder and Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said Shah had created “one of India’s most important technology companies” with Cred.
He added that the fintech founder “brings the kind of builder mentality and global perspective that will serve him well in running the world’s biggest messaging app”.
Cathcart has overseen Meta’s popular messaging platform for nearly seven years – and scaled its private chat functions to more than three billion users worldwide.
He said in posts on social media on Monday that while the platform was in “the strongest position it’s ever been” it also “felt like the right moment to step back”.
Cathcart will continue to play a role within Meta’s leadership ranks, with Kunal Shah, founder of Indian fintech start-up Cred, taking over as head of WhatsApp.
Facebook founder and Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said Shah had created “one of India’s most important technology companies” with Cred.
He added that the fintech founder “brings the kind of builder mentality and global perspective that will serve him well in running the world’s biggest messaging app”.
Shah noted that while Meta would join as a minority investor in Cred, it would have “no access to member data”.Meta’s shake-up of WhatsApp’s leadership comes as it looks to strengthen the app’s already booming presence in India.
Falling under Meta’s “family of apps” – its set of social networks including Facebook, Instagram and Messenger that boast billions of users – WhatsApp has been an area where the firm has tried to boost revenue with ads, paid subscriptions and AI tools.
The app is widely used in India, with about 853 million users, according to World Population Review.
But it has also faced some recent scrutiny in the country over its privacy and data sharing practices with its parent company, Meta.
Source: BBC
About The Author
