WhatsApp was snagged by Facebook for a whopping $19 billion last night, however, sources familiar with the matter have revealed that Google had initially offered a $10 billion deal for the popular cross-platform messaging service.
Fortune magazine has reported that Google offered $10 billion for WhatsApp, but the deal did not include a board seat as with the Facebook deal. It"s hard to tell whether that was the reason behind the deal not materializing between the two companies, but in the end WhatsApp seems to have got a much better one with Facebook.
WhatsApp has been a very popular messaging service on smartphones in recent years, boasting 450 million users and is reportedly larger than Twitter in terms of user base. As it was a direct competitor to Facebook and Google on the instant messaging front with its presence on all mobile platforms, it was obvious that one or more of the technology giants would be interested in acquiring WhatsApp.
Source: Fortune | Image via FirstPost