10 Other Significant Things Facebook Could Have Bought With $19B Instead Of WhatsApp
Since $19 billion is a sum most of us can hardly comprehend, the Internet at large came up with a list of other things Mark Zuckerberg and his team could have purchased instead of WhatsApp.
By Sadho Ram — 21 Feb 2014, 11:27 AM — Updated almost 11 years ago
Facebook's acquisition of the hugely popular messaging service WhatsApp for $19 billion is one of the largest tech deals in history. It dwarfs Facebook's acquisition of Instagram for $1 billion in 2012. You can read about Facebook's latest acquisition here:
Since $19 billion is a sum most of us can hardly comprehend (and because it's fun to imagine), the Internet at large came up with a list of other things Mark Zuckerberg and his team could have purchased for $19 billion
1. Four World Trade Centers worth $16B
Mark Zuckerberg and crew could've built four new World Trade Center skyscrapers, at a cost of $3.94 billion each.
Image via turner.com2. The UN's aid budget for a year worth $13B
In December, the UN asked for a record-breaking $13 billion for worldwide humanitarian relief operations in 2014, half of which will aid Syria. The purchase price of WhatsApp could've paid for all of that and more.
Image via turner.com3. 12.6 billion hot dogs
Mark Zuckerberg's favorite food is the bacon-wrapped hot dog. Some California vendors sell these for $1.50 each, meaning Facebook could've bought enough to feed Mark Zuckerberg one hot dog every second for the next 400 years.
Image via turner.com5. A loan deal with Ukraine worth $15B
Ukraine's president announced it would accept a massive $15 billion loan deal from Russia last year, touching off deadly protests in the country that have left dozens dead and its capital in flames.
Image via turner.com6. A whopping number of 678 nuclear bombs
One B61-12 nuclear bomb (not pictured) is estimated to cost $28 million, so Facebook could gather a stockpile of 678 of them instead of buying the messaging app.
Image via turner.com7. Four aircraft carriers worth $18B
Facebook's top executives Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, David Ebersman, and Mike Schroepfer would look pretty stylish cruising the San Francisco Bay in four Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers ($4.5 billion each).
Image via turner.com8. Relief for the Philippines worth $6B
Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines and killed more than 5,000 people. The recovery may cost $6 billion -- less than one-third of what Facebook paid for WhatsApp.
Image via turner.com
10. Fund National Cancer Institute for 4 years
The enacted financial year 2014 budget for NCI is $4.923 billion. So Facebook could have funded cancer for next 4 years.
Image via tumblr.comCan you think of any other thing that Facebook could have bought instead of WhatsApp? Write to us at [email protected] and we will publish your entries here.