Who is Kunal Shah? 10 things to know about WhatsApp's new chief

CHENNAI: WhatsApp is set for a major leadership transition, with Meta appointing Kunal Shah, founder of fintech platform CRED, as the messaging platform's new global head.

He succeeds Will Cathcart, who has led WhatsApp since 2019.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Cathcart would move to a new role within the company focused on building products, while Shah would bring his entrepreneurial experience and global perspective to lead WhatsApp's next phase of growth.

The leadership transition comes as CRED announced plans to raise approximately $900 million from Meta, deepening ties between the social media company and the Indian fintech firm.

10 Things to Know About Kunal Shah:

1. Kunal Shah is the founder of fintech CRED, a platform that enables users to pay their credit card bills and earn rewards.

2. Before CRED, Shah founded digital payments company FreeCharge, back in 2009.

3. FreeCharge was later acquired by Snapdeal, marking one of India's notable startup exits.

4. After selling FreeCharge, he became an active angel investor.

5. He started his career as a delivery boy in his early years.

6. Shah is also a prolific angel investor and has backed more than 250 startups.

7. He grew from 0 to 17 million members by aligning incentives with his behaviour.

8. Following Shah's departure, Miten Sampat was named as interim CEO of CRED with immediate effect.

9. Kunal Shah scaled from Rs 0 to Rs 3,200 crore in annual revenue across payments, lending, insurance, commerce, wealth and credit card.

10. Mark Zuckerberg said Shah's 'builder mentality' and 'global perspective' made him well suited to lead the world's largest messaging platform.