Did You Know That These 5 Companies are Owned by Facebook?
Facebook is such a part of our daily lives that often we take for granted the immense scale on which it operates. As of 2020, active users are at 2.6 Billion and still increasing. Do keep in mind that there are 7.6 Billion people on earth. This means that a third of the world’s population is on Facebook! Apart from the few obvious nations that do not allow its use (such as China), anyone who has a digital device would be a user!
From just another small tech valley start-up, it has now grown into a multi-billion dollar entity and controls a fleet of very recognizable social media companies. By complete acquisition and quick expansion, they are now close to being a monopoly in the social media industry. These are some company names you have most certainly heard of:
Companies Owned By FB
1. Instagram
Over the years, Instagram has transformed itself from an image sharing platform to a full-featured social media juggernaut. Its community is constantly buzzing and quick to catch up to trends, as the bulk of its users are among the youth. With new features being added almost constantly, you can now have options to make video calls, post short video clips, and communicate directly to anyone of your choice.
With an active user base of approximately 1 billion people, big-name celebrities are also a part of the community. For example, many soccer players are famed for constantly posting details of their daily lives to get better in touch with their fanbase. Never before has technology in communications allowed such proximity between fans and celebs.
Originally the brainchild of Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger in 2010, Facebook took note of the company’s immense potential and swooped in to acquire it for the sum of $1 BILLION! Looking back in hindsight, this amount was more than repaid as growth in Instagram’s user base doubled almost immediately within the same year.
2. WhatsApp
It is hard to imagine that just a decade ago we were mostly still text messaging via SMS facilities provided by telco operators. In 2020, almost everyone uses a digital text messaging system. The largest among this (for English users) is Whatsapp. With its launch, it effectively killed off the SMS and migrated everyone onto this new form of communication.
The biggest appeal? Apart from telco bandwidth fees, the entire service is provided free of charge even to this day. It is a quick and easy way of getting your message across to anyone you wish, provided they are on the same platform. With added features over the years, file sharing has never been easier. Documents, video, and audio messages can be sent almost instantly to anywhere in the world. This is why Whatsapp has now become a staple form of communication in many corporate companies around the world.
Whatsapp was originally founded by Jan Koum, who brought the system onto the iOS and Android platforms. Facebook, being the ever shrewd investor; saw its potential and moved in to snap up the company in 2014 for the sum of $19.3 Million. Fast forward to 2020, WhatsApp has continued to grow and has become the defacto choice of communication for many. Its simplicity and ease of use allow even less tech-savvy users to adopt it as their prime messaging platform.
3. Oculus VR
Being one of the first to foray into the complex world of VR simulations, Oculus is the pioneer in many of the hardware and software advancements you experience today. As it is one of the earliest to tap into this new market, it has gained a unique foothold in a niche segment that is ready to boom.
Its partnership with other hardware tech juggernauts such as Samsung has allowed it to grow at a rate that other companies would find hard to match. Founded in 2012 by Palmer Lucky, Brendan Iribe, Michael Antonov, and Nate Mitchell, it would later attract the attention of Facebook who came in with the irresistible offer of $2.3 Billion.
As of 2020, Oculus VR has now been renamed Facebook Reality Labs.
4. Onavo
This is a mobile web analytics platform that has established itself in the industry over the past few years. Due to the increasing needs of digital marketers for SEO data, web traffic, and advertising opportunities, Onavo has placed itself in a prime position to supply valuable data that would be essential in finding the right keywords.
Founded in 2010 by Israelis, it was acquired by Facebook for an undisclosed value in 2014. Best estimates for this acquisition would be around $100-$200 Million.
5. Friendfeed
This archaic social media platform was created to allow blogs, write-ups, and long-form content a free space for expression. You would not hear about this company in 2020, as the Facebook takeover was initiated due to Friendfeed being deemed as a competitor. In 2009, Facebook paid $15 Million in cash with stock options to acquire the company.
Needless to say, the entire acquisition was an offense move; Friendfeed has since been discontinued and its users merged into Facebook.
Final Thoughts
As social media and consumption of digital products increase, Facebook will continue to grow. Mark Zuckerberg has constantly been on the list of Top 10 wealthiest billionaires in the world for the past decade. The question is, how far would this form of consortium acquisitions continue? There are already talks that TikTok, the new kid on the block, would be irresistible to Facebook if not for the political dissonance of China. Over this new decade coming into 2020, we shall all see.
As always, if you enjoyed reading this, follow us on our social media platforms and blog for more quality content.
Facebook is such a part of our daily lives that often we take for granted the immense scale on which it operates. As of 2020, active users are at 2.6 Billion and still increasing. Do keep in mind that there are 7.6 Billion people on earth. This means that a third of the world’s population is on Facebook! Apart from the few obvious nations that do not allow its use (such as China), anyone who has a digital device would be a user!
From just another small tech valley start-up, it has now grown into a multi-billion dollar entity and controls a fleet of very recognizable social media companies. By complete acquisition and quick expansion, they are now close to being a monopoly in the social media industry. These are some company names you have most certainly heard of:
Companies Owned By FB
1. Instagram
Over the years, Instagram has transformed itself from an image sharing platform to a full-featured social media juggernaut. Its community is constantly buzzing and quick to catch up to trends, as the bulk of its users are among the youth. With new features being added almost constantly, you can now have options to make video calls, post short video clips, and communicate directly to anyone of your choice.
With an active user base of approximately 1 billion people, big-name celebrities are also a part of the community. For example, many soccer players are famed for constantly posting details of their daily lives to get better in touch with their fanbase. Never before has technology in communications allowed such proximity between fans and celebs.
Originally the brainchild of Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger in 2010, Facebook took note of the company’s immense potential and swooped in to acquire it for the sum of $1 BILLION! Looking back in hindsight, this amount was more than repaid as growth in Instagram’s user base doubled almost immediately within the same year.
2. WhatsApp
It is hard to imagine that just a decade ago we were mostly still text messaging via SMS facilities provided by telco operators. In 2020, almost everyone uses a digital text messaging system. The largest among this (for English users) is Whatsapp. With its launch, it effectively killed off the SMS and migrated everyone onto this new form of communication.
The biggest appeal? Apart from telco bandwidth fees, the entire service is provided free of charge even to this day. It is a quick and easy way of getting your message across to anyone you wish, provided they are on the same platform. With added features over the years, file sharing has never been easier. Documents, video, and audio messages can be sent almost instantly to anywhere in the world. This is why Whatsapp has now become a staple form of communication in many corporate companies around the world.
Whatsapp was originally founded by Jan Koum, who brought the system onto the iOS and Android platforms. Facebook, being the ever shrewd investor; saw its potential and moved in to snap up the company in 2014 for the sum of $19.3 Million. Fast forward to 2020, WhatsApp has continued to grow and has become the defacto choice of communication for many. Its simplicity and ease of use allow even less tech-savvy users to adopt it as their prime messaging platform.
3. Oculus VR
Being one of the first to foray into the complex world of VR simulations, Oculus is the pioneer in many of the hardware and software advancements you experience today. As it is one of the earliest to tap into this new market, it has gained a unique foothold in a niche segment that is ready to boom.
Its partnership with other hardware tech juggernauts such as Samsung has allowed it to grow at a rate that other companies would find hard to match. Founded in 2012 by Palmer Lucky, Brendan Iribe, Michael Antonov, and Nate Mitchell, it would later attract the attention of Facebook who came in with the irresistible offer of $2.3 Billion.
As of 2020, Oculus VR has now been renamed Facebook Reality Labs.
4. Onavo
This is a mobile web analytics platform that has established itself in the industry over the past few years. Due to the increasing needs of digital marketers for SEO data, web traffic, and advertising opportunities, Onavo has placed itself in a prime position to supply valuable data that would be essential in finding the right keywords.
Founded in 2010 by Israelis, it was acquired by Facebook for an undisclosed value in 2014. Best estimates for this acquisition would be around $100-$200 Million.
5. Friendfeed
This archaic social media platform was created to allow blogs, write-ups, and long-form content a free space for expression. You would not hear about this company in 2020, as the Facebook takeover was initiated due to Friendfeed being deemed as a competitor. In 2009, Facebook paid $15 Million in cash with stock options to acquire the company.
Needless to say, the entire acquisition was an offense move; Friendfeed has since been discontinued and its users merged into Facebook.
Final Thoughts
As social media and consumption of digital products increase, Facebook will continue to grow. Mark Zuckerberg has constantly been on the list of Top 10 wealthiest billionaires in the world for the past decade. The question is, how far would this form of consortium acquisitions continue? There are already talks that TikTok, the new kid on the block, would be irresistible to Facebook if not for the political dissonance of China. Over this new decade coming into 2020, we shall all see.
As always, if you enjoyed reading this, follow us on our social media platforms and blog for more quality content.
