this post was submitted on 09 Jul 2023
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they have access to the metadata, which can be as valuable as the content of the messages.
Maybe you're right, but I'd be hesitant to say WhatsApp user's contacts list would be worth US$ 20B.
My theory is they bought WhatsApp just because it was organically growing to be the dominant messaging app, and Facebook didn't want to lose this marked and bought them to squash the competition.
contact list? not really.
knowing who they talk to, how often, where from, for how long on average, and, in case of the countries where Whatsapp for Business is popular, what businesses do they spend money at? probably quite worth it.
The WhatsApp Business stuff is a more recent development. When FB bought them they had very little to work with.