Jan Koum facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jan Koum
|
|
|---|---|
| Ян Кум | |
.jpg)
Koum (2014)
|
|
| Born | February 24, 1976 |
| Education | San Jose State University |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Years active | 1994–present |
Jan Koum is a very successful businessman and computer programmer from Ukraine and America. He is famous for being the co-founder of WhatsApp, a popular messaging app. In 2014, a big company called Facebook bought WhatsApp for a huge amount of money. Jan Koum is now one of the richest people in the world.
Contents
Early Life and Moving to America
Jan Koum was born in Kiev, Ukraine, on February 24, 1976. His family was Jewish. When he was 16, in 1992, he moved to Mountain View, California, with his mother and grandmother. They received help from a social program to get a small apartment.
Life was not easy at first. His mother worked as a babysitter, and Jan worked as a cleaner at a grocery store. His mother sadly passed away in 2000 after being sick for a long time.
Starting a Career in Technology
When Jan Koum was about 18, he became very interested in computer programming. He started studying at San Jose State University. At the same time, he worked at a company called Ernst & Young as a security tester. This job involved checking computer systems for weaknesses.
In 1997, Jan met Brian Acton while working at Ernst & Young. Later that year, Jan got a job at Yahoo! as an engineer. He decided to leave college to focus on his work. Jan and Brian worked together at Yahoo! for nine years.
The Idea for WhatsApp
In September 2007, Jan and Brian left Yahoo! They took a year off to travel. They both tried to get jobs at Facebook but were not hired.
In January 2009, Jan bought an iPhone. He realized that the App Store, which was quite new, was going to change how people used phones. He had an idea for a new app. He visited his friend Alex Fishman, and they talked about it for hours.
Jan quickly decided to name his app WhatsApp because it sounded like "what's up." Just a week later, on his 33rd birthday, he officially started his company, WhatsApp Inc., in California.
WhatsApp's Growth and Success
At first, WhatsApp was not very popular. But things changed in June 2009 when Apple added a feature called push notifications to apps. This meant apps could send alerts to users. Jan changed WhatsApp so it would "ping" users when they got a message.
Soon, Jan and his friends started using WhatsApp to send messages instead of traditional SMS texts. The app quickly gained many users. Jan convinced Brian Acton, who was still looking for a job, to join the company. Brian helped the company get its first funding, and Jan made him a co-founder.
On February 9, 2014, the CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, invited Jan Koum to dinner. He offered Jan a deal for WhatsApp to join Facebook. Ten days later, Facebook announced they were buying WhatsApp for a huge amount of money. Jan Koum left WhatsApp and Facebook's board of directors in April 2018.
Giving Back: Philanthropy
Jan Koum has given a lot of money to different causes. In 2014, he donated $1 million to The FreeBSD Foundation, which supports open-source computer software. He also gave a large amount of money to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, which helps many different charities.
He continued to support The FreeBSD Foundation with more donations in 2016, 2018, and 2019.
During the 2022 conflict in Ukraine, Jan Koum donated millions of dollars to help with relief efforts. He gave money to organizations that support Jewish communities in Europe and other areas. He has also supported various causes in Israel and donated to universities like Fordham and Stanford.
Personal Interests
Jan Koum is Jewish. He doesn't like being called an "entrepreneur." He once said that he believes entrepreneurs are mainly focused on making money. He, however, feels that he just wants to build useful products for people.
In November 2023, Jan Koum bought a large estate called Château de la Garoupe in France.
See also
In Spanish: Jan Koum para niños
