Another high-profile exit of WhatsApp: Chief Business Officer Neeraj quits
In what is sure to hurt WhatsApp and its parent company Facebook, Neeraj Arora, the Chief Business Officer of the messaging app, announced on Monday that he will leave the company. Arora said, he will be 'taking some time off to recharge and spend time with family'. Notably, in 2017, co-founder Brian Acton had resigned from the company over Facebook's privacy practices. Here's more.
Arora had been associated with WhatsApp since 2011 and was part of the company when Facebook acquired it for $19 billion. In a Facebook post, Arora wrote, "I am confident that WhatsApp will continue to be the simple, secure & trusted communication product for years to come." He thanked Acton and co-founder Jan Koum, who had left the company seven months ago.
This exit will spell troubles for Facebook and its founder Mark Zuckerberg. Notably, Koum in his now-deleted WhatsApp blog post had alleged the tech giant had no respect for privacy. He had written, "These days companies know literally everything about you, your friends, your interests, and they use it all to sell ads." Koum was also unhappy with Facebook's plans of monetization.
Arora's resignation comes at a time when WhatsApp is pushing for monetization and is looking to insert advertisements in statuses for the same. The messaging app is also facing the pressure of curbing fake news. In a bid to curb misinformation, WhatsApp deployed campaigns in markets like India and Brazil. It hoped to educate users about spreading fake news.
Notably, Arora is the latest one to join the long list of senior executives who have left companies acquired by Facebook. Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger resigned from their posts recently. Facebook had acquired the photo-sharing app for $1 billion. Oculus co-founder Brendan Iribe also left the company. Facebook's chief security officer Alex Stamos left the company in August this year.
