Date of Birth: February 24, 1976
Zodiac Sign: Pisces
Date of Death: *Jan Koum is alive as of the date of this information.*
Biography
Jan Koum is a Ukrainian-American entrepreneur and computer programmer best known for co-founding WhatsApp, a globally popular messaging application, which was acquired by Facebook Inc. in 2014 for approximately $19 billion. Koum was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, and emigrated to the United States with his mother and grandmother in the early 1990s to escape the political and economic instability in their homeland. He initially lived in a small two-bedroom apartment and relied on food stamps as his family adjusted to their new life in California. Koum’s interest in computers led him to enroll at San Jose State University, where he studied computer science while working as a security tester at Ernst & Young. It was during this time he met Brian Acton, who would later become his business partner. Koum joined Yahoo! as an infrastructure engineer in 1998, a position he held for nearly nine years. In 2009, inspired by the potential of the burgeoning mobile app industry, Koum and Acton launched WhatsApp Inc., which quickly grew into one of the most widely used messaging apps in the world.
5 Interesting Facts about Jan Koum
1. Jan Koum and Brian Acton were both rejected by Facebook and Twitter before creating WhatsApp.
2. Koum signed the $19 billion acquisition deal with Facebook on the door of his old welfare office.
3. WhatsApp was named to sound like “What’s Up”.
4. Koum had a no-advertising policy for WhatsApp, making it an ad-free platform.
5. Koum has a strong passion for internet privacy and security, principles that heavily influenced WhatsApp’s development.
5 Most Interesting Quotes from Jan Koum
1. “I want to do one thing, and do it really well.”
2. “Advertising isn’t just the disruption of aesthetics, the insults to your intelligence and the interruption of your train of thought.”
3. “Respect for your privacy is coded into our DNA.”
4. “We focused on simplicity and reliability.”
5. “We just want to create a product that people love to use.”
Highest Net Worth Achieved
At the peak of his career, Jan Koum’s highest net worth was estimated to be around $10.6 billion.
Children
As of the latest available information, Jan Koum has kept his personal life private and there are no publicly known details about his children.
Relevant Links
1. [Jan Koum Biography on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Koum
2. [Forbes Profile on Jan Koum](https://www.forbes.com/profile/jan-koum/
4. [WhatsApp Founders’ Story](https://www.wsj.com/articles/whatsapps-founders-move-on-11558417800
