Signal messaging app founder and CEO Moxie Marlinspike will step down and WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton will become interim CEO, Marlinspike said in a blog post on Monday.
“It’s a new year and I’ve decided it’s a good time to replace myself as CEO of Signal,” he said. Marlinspike, who will remain on Signal’s board, said he is looking for candidates for the permanent CEO role.
Acton founded Signal’s rival messaging app WhatsApp in 2009. The company was bought by Meta Platforms, then Facebook, in 2014. He left WhatsApp in 2017 due to differences in the use of customer data and targeted advertising, according to with the Signal website.
In February 2018, he, alongside Marlinspike, started the non-profit Signal Foundation, which currently oversees the app, providing seed funding of $50 million (approximately Rs. 370 crore).
Signal, an end-to-end encrypted messaging platform, has been endorsed by the likes of Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and whistleblower and privacy advocate Edward Snowden.
© Thomson Reuters 2022
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