Brian Acton
Brian Acton | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 17, 1972 Michigan, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, software developer |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Known for | Co-founder of WhatsApp, executive chair of Signal Technology Foundation, interim CEO of Signal Messenger LLC |
Brian Acton (born February 17, 1972) is an American entrepreneur and software developer who currently holds the position of executive chair at the Signal Technology Foundation, an organization he co-established with Moxie Marlinspike in 2018. Additionally, Acton serves as the interim CEO of Signal Messenger LLC.
Before this, Acton worked at Yahoo! and later co-founded WhatsApp alongside Jan Koum in 2009. The messaging platform was purchased by Facebook in February 2014 for $19 billion. Acton departed from WhatsApp in September 2017 to initiate the Signal Foundation. As of 2020, Forbes ranked him as the 836th wealthiest individual globally, estimating his fortune at $2.5 billion.
Early life and education
Raised in Michigan, Acton eventually relocated to Central Florida, where he graduated from Lake Howell High School. Initially awarded a full engineering scholarship at the University of Pennsylvania, he transferred after one year to Stanford University, earning his computer science degree in 1994.
Career
Acton's early career began in 1992 as a systems administrator at Rockwell International. He subsequently held roles as a product tester at both Apple Inc. and Adobe Systems. In 1996, he joined the ranks of Yahoo Inc..
Yahoo!
Acton met Jan Koum two years after joining Yahoo when Koum was hired as an infrastructure engineer; their acquaintance dated back to their time at Ernst & Young. They worked together at Yahoo for nearly a decade. During the 2000 dot-com bubble, Acton experienced significant financial losses. Both left Yahoo in September 2007, spent a year traveling through South America, and later applied to Facebook without success.
In January 2009, Koum acquired an iPhone and recognized the App Store's potential for innovative applications. He collaborated with Alex Fishman to develop an app, naming their company WhatsApp and officially incorporating it on February 24, 2009.
Facebook acquired WhatsApp from Koum and Acton in 2014 for approximately US$19 billion in cash and stock. According to Forbes, Acton held more than a 20% share, valuing his net worth close to $3.8 billion.
In 2016, Acton spearheaded a $3.5 million investment round for Trak N Tell along with other backers.
Citing disagreements with Facebook over monetization approaches, Acton exited WhatsApp in September 2017. By leaving before his options vested fully, he relinquished $850 million in unvested shares. He also disclosed that Facebook executives instructed him to provide misleading information to European regulators concerning the integration of Facebook and WhatsApp user data.
Signal
Following his departure from WhatsApp in September 2017, Acton established the Signal Foundation, dedicated to offering secure communication through an encrypted messaging platform. Signal has become popular among journalists and human rights defenders.
In February 2018, Acton contributed $50 million to Signal via a loan to the newly formed non-profit Signal Technology Foundation. By the end of that year, this loan had increased to $105 million; it remains unsecured and interest-free, with repayment scheduled for 2068.
On March 20, 2018, Forbes highlighted Acton's public endorsement of the #DeleteFacebook campaign amid mounting criticism of Facebook. In November 2019, he told journalist Steven Levy that growing opposition toward Facebook motivated his decision to speak out openly.
Philanthropy
In 2014, Brian Acton and his wife, Tegan, founded Wildcard Giving along with three affiliated foundations: Sunlight Giving, Acton Family Giving, and Solidarity Giving. Sunlight Giving is dedicated to enhancing essential services for low-income families with young children in the San Francisco Bay Area, addressing needs such as food security, stable housing, and healthcare access. The foundation managed assets totaling $470 million and distributed grants of $6.4 million in 2015, $19.2 million in 2016, and $23.6 million in 2017. Additionally, it played a role in supporting Magnify Community, a nonprofit organization focused on channeling philanthropic funds toward grassroots groups.
According to Forbes in 2019, Brian and Tegan Acton had contributed more than $1 billion to various charitable initiatives through their growing philanthropic network since the WhatsApp acquisition by Facebook.
Personal life
Brian Acton is married to Tegan Acton, and they reside in Palo Alto, California.