Will Cathcart, the man who scaled WhatsApp to more than three billion users worldwide, is stepping down after nearly seven years at the helm. In posts on social media on Monday, Cathcart said the platform was in “the strongest position it’s ever been” but that “it felt like the right moment to step back.” He will remain within Meta’s leadership ranks.
Taking his place is Kunal Shah, founder of Indian fintech start-up Cred. Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg called Shah the creator of “one of India’s most important technology companies” and said he “brings the kind of builder mentality and global perspective that will serve him well in running the world’s biggest messaging app.”
“Will Cathcart steps down as WhatsApp boss after nearly seven years; Kunal Shah, founder of Indian fintech Cred, takes over.”
The leadership shake-up comes as Meta looks to strengthen WhatsApp’s already booming presence in India, where the app has about 853 million users, according to World Population Review. But WhatsApp has also faced recent scrutiny in the country over its privacy and data sharing practices with its parent company.
Shah, who founded Cred in 2018, has sought to disrupt India’s payments sector with a “members-only” service that rewards high-earners for timely credit card payments. On Monday, he wrote on LinkedIn that he would continue as a shareholder in Cred while taking on the WhatsApp role, adding that Cred had raised $900m (£679m) in investment from Meta. According to Bloomberg, that gives Meta a 20% stake in the company. Shah noted that while Meta joins as a minority investor, it will have “no access to member data.”