Jan Koum

Jan Koum
Born	(1976-02-24) February 24, 1976 Kiev, Ukrainian SSR
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, software developer
Known for	Co-founder and former CEO of WhatsApp

Jan Borysovych Koum (born February 24, 1976) is a Ukrainian-American billionaire entrepreneur and software developer. He is best known as the co-founder and former CEO of WhatsApp, a mobile messaging platform that was acquired by Facebook in 2014 for $19.3 billion. As of October 2023, Forbes values his fortune at $15.2 billion, placing him 44th on the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans.

Early life

Koum was born in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, into a Jewish household and spent his childhood in Fastiv. At age 16, in 1992, he relocated with his mother and grandmother to Mountain View, California. They settled into a modest two-bedroom apartment with assistance from a social welfare program. His father planned to join them but remained in Ukraine until his passing in 1997. Koum’s mother worked as a babysitter while he took on cleaning jobs; she died in 2000 after a battle with cancer.

Career

By the time he turned 18, Koum had developed an interest in computer programming. He enrolled at San Jose State University and simultaneously worked as a security tester at Ernst & Young. During this period, he became involved with w00w00, a computer security collective, where he met future Napster founders Shawn Fanning and Jordan Ritter.

In 1997, Koum crossed paths with Brian Acton at Ernst & Young. Koum later joined Yahoo! as an infrastructure engineer and decided to leave university shortly afterward. He and Acton collaborated at Yahoo! for nine years before departing in 2007 to take time off for travel. Both applied to Facebook but were turned down.

After purchasing an iPhone in January 2009, Koum recognized the potential of the newly launched App Store. He developed WhatsApp, naming it after the casual greeting "what's up." On his 33rd birthday, he officially registered WhatsApp Inc. in California.

The app initially struggled to gain users but saw rapid growth following Apple’s introduction of push notifications in June 2009, enabling message alerts through "pings." Koum’s Russian-speaking acquaintances began using it as an SMS alternative. As WhatsApp expanded quickly, Koum invited Acton to join as co-founder after Acton secured $250,000 in seed capital.

On February 9, 2014, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg asked Koum to join Facebook’s board of directors. Ten days later, Facebook acquired WhatsApp for $19 billion. In early 2016, Koum sold over $2.4 billion worth of Facebook shares, representing roughly half of his stake.

In April 2018, Koum announced his exit from both WhatsApp and Facebook’s board amid disagreements with Facebook leadership. Although initially thought to have forfeited nearly $1 billion in unvested stock options, it was later disclosed that he remained formally employed under a "rest and vest" agreement with Facebook, earning approximately $450 million in stock while stepping back from daily operations.

Philanthropy

In 2014, Koum contributed $1 million to The FreeBSD Foundation and almost $556 million to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF). Further donations from the Koum Family Foundation included $500,000 to The FreeBSD Foundation in 2016, followed by $750,000 in 2018 and another $500,000 in 2019.

During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Koum donated $17 million to the European Jewish Association and $10.6 million to the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS. His support for Israeli organizations includes gifts such as $600,000 to the Maccabee Task Force, $6 million to Friends of Ir David, and $175,000 to the Central Fund of Israel. In the same year, he gave $2 million to AIPAC amid the Democratic Party primaries. Koum also donated $1 million to Fordham University and $41 million to Stanford University.

For the 2024 U.S. election cycle, Koum emerged as a major contributor to the United Democracy Project, a Super PAC linked with AIPAC. He also provided $5 million to a Super PAC supporting Nikki Haley’s presidential bid and approximately $250,000 to a committee backing Daniel Lurie for San Francisco mayor.

Personal life

Koum identifies as Jewish. He prefers not to be labeled an entrepreneur, explaining that his drive is centered on creating valuable products rather than pursuing financial gain like typical entrepreneurs.

In February 1996, a court in San Jose issued a restraining order against Koum following allegations made by a former girlfriend. By October 2014, Koum publicly acknowledged and expressed remorse for his previous conduct.

In November 2023, Koum purchased the Château de la Garoupe located in Cap d'Antibes on the French Riviera. The estate, previously owned by Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, was acquired for approximately 65 million euros.