Tech

Jan Koum

Emigrated from Ukraine at 16 and lived on food stamps; sold WhatsApp for $19B two decades later.

Born: 1976 · Kyiv, Ukraine
Roots: Ukrainian Jewish; emigrated to the US at 16
Family: Working class; Construction-manager father, homemaker mother; a village house with no hot water. His father never made it to the US.
Education: San Jose State University (dropped out)
Started with: Food stamps; The family arrived in Mountain View in 1992 and relied on public assistance.
Affiliations & societies: None documented.; Information only — claims like these are often unverifiable and may be wrong.

The pathway

1992 · age 16
Emigrates to Mountain View
With his mother and grandmother; food stamps, a mop-up job at a grocery store.
1997 · age 21
Yahoo engineer
Hired after meeting Brian Acton; works on infrastructure for nine years.
2009 · age 33
Rejected by Facebook
Both he and Acton apply for jobs and are turned down.
2009 · age 33
Founds WhatsApp$250K
Acton joins and brings seed money from ex-Yahoo friends.
2014 · age 38
Facebook buys WhatsApp$19B
He signs the papers on the door of the building where he once collected food stamps.
2018 · age 42
Leaves Facebook
Departs amid reported disagreements over privacy and encryption.

Sources

Compiled from these references and contemporaneous press reporting. Figures are approximate; verify before relying on them.