Will Cathcart, the executive who oversaw WhatsApp’s growth to more than three billion users over nearly seven years, announced Monday that he is leaving his role as head of the Meta-owned messaging app. Cathcart said in social-media posts that while WhatsApp was in a strong position, the moment felt right to step back. He will remain within Meta’s leadership ranks in a different capacity.
Kunal Shah, founder of the Bengaluru-based fintech startup Cred, will succeed Cathcart as WhatsApp’s head. Cred operates a members-only payment service that rewards high-earners for timely credit card payments. Shah founded Cred in 2018 after working as an investor and advisor to startups across India and Southeast Asia.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg welcomed Shah to the role. “He brings the kind of builder mentality and global perspective that will serve him well in running the world’s biggest messaging app,” Zuckerberg said in a statement.
Shah wrote that he will continue as a shareholder in Cred while taking on the WhatsApp role. He disclosed that Meta had invested $900 million (£679 million) in Cred through a funding round, which, according to Bloomberg, gives the social-media giant a 20% stake in the company. Shah emphasized that Meta would have “no access to member data” as a minority investor.
WhatsApp is widely used in India, with about 853 million users, according to figures from World Population Review cited by the BBC. The app has also drawn recent scrutiny in the country over its privacy and data-sharing practices with parent company Meta.
The leadership shake-up comes as Meta looks to strengthen WhatsApp’s already dominant position in India and expand the app’s revenue streams through advertising, paid subscriptions, and artificial intelligence tools. WhatsApp is part of Meta’s “family of apps,” which also includes Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger, collectively serving billions of users.