Brian Acton was born in 1972 and is currently living in California with his wife and daughter. He did not have an easy life as his father died when he was just 13 years old and he had to help provide for his family at such a young age. He did not go to college or university, but did take the initiative to teach himself coding and went on to co-found WhatsApp with Jan Koum in 2009 which was eventually bought by Facebook for $19 billion, making him one of the youngest billionaires in the world! Find Out What Makes Brian Acton So Successful
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He worked hard from the beginning
People who achieve success and then retire on a beach usually fall into one of two camps: they don’t work as hard after achieving their goal or they are still working on building their businesses from afar. Either way, you want to be like Acton and maintain your diligence after you hit your goals. Everyone has a story about someone who made it big only to crash and burn. Learn from these stories and maintain your focus throughout your career instead of stopping once you reach an arbitrary level of success. Find Out What Makes Brian Acton So Successful
| Name | Brian Acton |
| Born | 1972/1973 (age 49–50) Michigan, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Bachelor of Science |
| Alma mater | Stanford University University of Pennsylvania Lake Howell High School |
| Years active | 1992 – present |
| Organization | Signal Foundation |
| Known for | Co-founded WhatsApp with Jan Koum in 2009 Co-founded Signal Foundation with Moxie Marlinspike in 2018 |
| Title | Executive Chairman |
| Spouse(s) | Tegan Acton |
He focused on one thing at a time
While other people were trying to juggle classes, internships, and extracurricular activities, Acton focused on his grades. Once he felt confident that he was doing well in school (and knew what kind of career he wanted), he started applying for jobs. If you just focus on one thing and don’t spread yourself too thin, it will come together in due time, says Acton.
He found his groove and stuck with it
Before he was co-founder of WhatsApp and sold it to Facebook for $19 billion, Acton used to be a Yahoo employee. He worked there for four years before leaving his job to work on a mobile communications company. In 2010, he left that company when Facebook acquired it for $1 billion. When he made the decision to leave his well-paying job at Yahoo to pursue his startup dreams, many people—including himself—questioned whether or not it was such a good idea.
He never gave up
Rather than attend a four-year college, which he had intended to do, Acton followed his friend and co-founder Jan Koum (whom he met while working at Deloitte) to San Jose State University where they both studied computer science. While there, Koum suggested that they start a company together and that’s when WhatsApp was born. This is a fantastic example of seeing an opportunity and seizing it, no matter what your circumstances are. Find Out What Makes Brian Acton So Successful
One day he woke up famous
When he was 24, Brian Acton dropped out of Stanford Business School to join a startup called Yahoo!, which was then riding high as one of Silicon Valley’s hottest tech companies.