Jan Koum

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Borisovich and the family name is Kum.
Jan Koum
Ян Кум
Koum in April 2013
Born (1976-02-24) February 24, 1976 (age 48)
Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Kyiv, Ukraine)
OccupationBusinessman
Years active1994–present

Jan Borysovych Koum[a] (born February 24, 1976[1]) is a Ukrainian-American billionaire businessman and computer programmer. He is the co-founder and former CEO of WhatsApp, a mobile messaging app which was acquired by Facebook in 2014 for US$19.3 billion. According to Forbes, he has an estimated net worth of US$15.2 billion as of October 2023, making him one of the richest people in the world.[2] Koum was ranked 44th on the Forbes' list of richest Americans in 2023 with a net worth of $15.1 billion.[3]


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ "The CNBC Next List: Jan Koum". CNBC. October 6, 2014.
  2. ^ "Forbes profile: Jan Koum". Forbes. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  3. ^ "Forbes 400 2023 profile: Jan Koum". Forbes. October 2023. Retrieved October 9, 2023.