The long play, a $21.8bn bet in 2014 turns into 2 billion users

A WhatsApp video caught my eye this week – https://youtu.be/DOKp7FmNJV – it shows a user kitting out their office via WhatsApp.

It's not revolutionary but it's a big change for the messaging app which has struggled to monetise.

Facebook bought WhatsApp in 2014 for $21.8bn all in, which at the time equated to $55 per user (450 million).

Initially the share price rose from $68 to $77.56 when the regulatory approval process concluded.

But now with an expanded user base of 2 billion and a share price trading above $270 – it's a classic long play whereby long term gains weren't sacrificed for any short-term wins.

The new initiatives of how they service the community can only bode well.

A bold new debt trap, how SA pensions compare globally, a kiff interview with The Kiffness, The Wry Eye and more in this week's BizNews Digest, download the PDF here – https://bit.ly/2Tuy21L.

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