WhatsApp chief Will Cathcart has announced he is stepping down after seven years of guiding the app to a record three billion users worldwide. He said on Twitter that the platform was in its strongest position ever, but it felt right for him to step back.
His departure is being filled by Kunal Shah, the founder of Indian fintech startup Cred, who will become the new head of WhatsApp. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, praised Shah, noting that Cred has become one of India’s most important technology firms and that Shah brings a “builder mentality and global perspective.”
Cred, based in Bengaluru, disrupted the Indian payments sector with a member‑only service that rewards high‑earners for timely credit card payments. Prior to launching Cred in 2018, Shah worked as an investor and advisor to several start‑ups across India and South‑East Asia.
Shah will stay on as a shareholder in Cred while taking on his new role at WhatsApp. Meta will hold a 20% stake in Cred, but Bloomberg reports the deal will not give Meta access to Cred’s member data.
WhatsApp’s dominance in India, where the app serves approximately 853 million users, makes Shah’s appointment an important decision as Meta seeks to strengthen its presence and navigate privacy concerns in the country.
With this leadership change, Meta aims to propel WhatsApp toward new revenue models—including ads, paid subscriptions and AI tools—while balancing the need to respect user privacy across its growing global user base.
