Facebook buys WhatsApp: the $16 billion quest to conquer messaging

Facebook shocked Silicon Valley and Wall Street alike in February 2014 when it announced it would acquire WhatsApp, a global mobile messaging app, for a staggering $16 billion, plus another $3 billion in options. But with a firm commitment not to advertise and to maintain its own stand alone product, WhatsApp has a murky path ahead as it begins its journey into the bowels of the Facebook empire. Follow all the latest news from one of the biggest deals in tech history so far.