Jan Koum is your typical rags-to-riches success story, and considering that he co-founded Israel’s most popular media application, that title does not go undeserving.
Koum was the mind behind WhatsApp, the messenger application that, for over a decade, has taken the world by storm. While Koum once stood in line for food stamps, he is now worth $10.8 billion. Israelis in particular find WhatsApp to be central to their lives.
The Ukrainian billionaire began his life outside of Kyiv and left for California amid a troubling sociopolitical state in the region, as well as rising antisemitism.
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Ironically, he was initially rejected from working for Facebook. Once Apple launched the App Store, he thought of WhatsApp, but it was far different from what it is today: then it was simply a platform of user statuses.
A few users downloaded the initial version and used it to share statuses, which would be sent to their contacts. This developed into a form of communication, as people started to chat over statuses in a “reply” option. Soon it was an instant messaging platform taking the world by storm.
He sold the platform, which now houses over 2 billion users, to Facebook for $22b. in cash and stock in 2014.
He founded the Koum Family Foundation, which works primarily as a philanthropic venture.
According to Jewish Insider, the foundation donated over $19 million to Jewish causes in 2018 alone.
He has voiced opposition to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement in the past, commenting on a Facebook post by StandWithUs in 2015 that pointed out apparent hypocrisy of BDS supporters, calling the post “priceless.”