Brian Acton was born on February 17,1972 and is an American business executive and computer programmer serving as the executive chairperson of Signal Technology Foundation, which he co-founded with Moxie Marlinspike in 2018.
18 Facts About Brian Acton
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In 2009, Jan Koum and Brian Acton co-founded WhatsApp, a mobile messaging application which was acquired by Facebook in February 2014 for US$19 billion.
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Brian Acton left WhatsApp in September 2017 to start the Signal Foundation.
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Brian Acton grew up in Michigan, later moving to Central Florida, where he graduated from Lake Howell High School.
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Brian Acton received a full scholarship to study engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, but left after a year to study at Stanford.
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Brian Acton graduated from Stanford University in 1994 with a degree in computer science.
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In 1992, Brian Acton became a systems administrator for Rockwell International, before becoming a product tester at Apple Inc and Adobe Systems.
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Brian Acton visited his friend Alex Fishman and talked about developing an app.
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In 2014, Koum and Brian Acton sold WhatsApp to Facebook for approximately US$19 billion in cash and stock.
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In 2016, Brian Acton led a funding round for Trak N Tell and raised $3.5 million along with two other investors.
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Brian Acton told Forbes that he left over a dispute with Facebook regarding monetization of WhatsApp, and voluntarily left $850 million in unvested options on the table by leaving a few months before vesting was completed.
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Brian Acton said that he was coached by Facebook executives to mislead European regulators regarding Facebook's intention to merge Facebook and WhatsApp user data.
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Brian Acton left WhatsApp in September 2017 to start a new foundation, the Signal Foundation, which is dedicated to helping people have access to private communication through an encrypted messaging app.
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In February 2018, it was announced that Brian Acton was investing $50 million into Signal.
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Brian Acton said he felt that it was time because there was pressure unfolding against Facebook.
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Brian Acton is currently a board member of the Signal Foundation.
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Also in 2014, Brian Acton helped establish Brian Acton Family Giving and Solidarity Giving.
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Brian Acton is married to Tegan Acton and resides in Palo Alto, California.