I have a question that the article doesn’t answer. If the original founders left because of disagreements on advertising as the monetization model for WhatsApp, are they still holding on to Facebook stock for their $3 billion and $9 billion net worth (respectively)? Or have they sold those since those shares are valued because of the advertising that Facebook pushes? The answer to this would say a lot about their claimed commitment to privacy and their stance against ads.

My next point is a prediction. WhatsApp will remove end to end encryption as the default very soon. With Facebook wanting to grow its revenues and profits (like most other companies), this is too attractive to let it stay as it has been for the last few years. At least some WhatsApp employees seem to have some kind of a moral compass on this topic, and I’d expect several of them to leave when this change is announced later this year or early next year.