CRED Founder Kunal Shah Named WhatsApp’s Next Global CEO
New Delhi — CRED founder Kunal Shah will become WhatsApp’s next global CEO as Meta makes a minority investment of about $900 million in the Indian fintech company, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Monday.
The investment is valued at nearly Rs 8,550 crore. Shah will step away from his leadership role at CRED, which will be led by Miten Sampat as interim CEO.
“Team CRED, I’ll still expect you to be a 10x version of yourselves. As for me, I’ll be joining Meta to lead WhatsApp globally. Meta comes in as a minority investor in CRED. No access to member data,” said Shah.
“I look forward to working with Mark, Chris, and the leadership across Meta for the next step in WhatsApp’s journey. Will, thank you for scaling something the world relies on quietly, and for making this transition smooth,” he said in a statement.
Zuckerberg said Shah’s experience building CRED would help him lead the world’s largest messaging platform.
“Kunal Shah will join Meta as WhatsApp’s next leader. Kunal built CRED into one of India’s most important technology companies, and he brings the kind of builder mentality and global perspective that will serve him well in running the world’s biggest messaging app,” said Zuckerberg.
“I look forward to working with Kunal to continue to make WhatsApp the best service for billions of people and millions of businesses,” he added.
Shah will succeed Will Cathcart, who is stepping down after seven years as WhatsApp’s head. Cathcart will remain at Meta in a new role focused on developing products.
“Will’s been one of Meta’s most important and effective leaders, helping to bring WhatsApp to over 3 billion people and championing privacy for our community. Will is transitioning to a new role within Meta where he’ll build new products from the ground-up,” Zuckerberg added.
Reflecting on his departure from CRED, Shah said the company had grown into a profitable financial technology platform serving millions of members since its launch in 2018.
“I started Cred in 2018 with a belief that creditworthiness deserves to be rewarded. In under eight years, that belief has turned into a new category: millions of members, Rs 3,200 crore ($325 million) in revenue, profitability, a full stack of licences and a strong brand. On this foundation, with additional capital and an extraordinarily talented team, CRED is poised to become an enduring institution for decades to come. I’m stepping back with gratitude and with conviction that the team will keep raising the bar.” (Source: IANS)
