What happened
In a significant leadership change, Meta has named Kunal Shah, renowned entrepreneur and founder of the fintech startup CRED, as the new head of WhatsApp. He succeeds Will Cathcart, who spent nearly seven years leading the messaging platform before transitioning to a product-building role within Meta. This appointment coincides with a $900 million strategic investment by Meta into CRED, making Meta a minority stakeholder. India remains WhatsApp's largest market with over 500 million users, playing a central role in Meta's broader initiatives to expand business messaging, electronic payments, and digital commerce. Meta aims to leverage Shah's extensive fintech expertise and proven track record in scaling internet businesses to drive monetization efforts and commercial growth for the messaging platform on a global scale.