The departure of WhatsApp's founder has 'potentially significant implications' for Facebook
- WhatsApp founder Jan Koum announced he is leaving Facebook, after reportedly having disagreements with Facebook about privacy and security
- His departure could be timely for Facebook, as it looks to monetize the promising WhatsApp platform, according to Barclays analyst Ross Sandler.
- Watch Facebook trade in real time here.
The billionaire founder of WhatsApp, Jan Koum, announced he is quitting. And his departure could open up a revenue opportunity for Facebook, Barclays analyst Ross Sandler wrote in a note.
"We've been told by many of our checks over the last few years that 'once Jan leaves, that's when the ads show up,'" Sandler wrote. Sandler added that Koum and Facebook had disagreed for years about the pace of monetization on WhatsApp.
"With Koum's departure, it could mark the starting point for more aggressive monetization of WhatsApp," Sandler said.
Sandler estimated that WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger could now combine for revenue of roughly $11 billion by 2020. And he arrived at that projection "conservatively," he said.
Facebook announced just in July of 2017 that it would start showing ads on the Messenger app.
Sandler pointed out the app has 1.5 billion monthly active users, and those users are twice as engaged as Messenger users are, which means ads could perform well on the platform.
"There is great deal of potential ad inventory at WhatsApp," Sandler wrote.
Facebook is down 5.26% on the year.
