Meta appoints CRED founder Kunal Shah as WhatsApp chief
Original: WhatsApp gets new chief as Meta taps India’s CRED founder Kunal Shah and invests $900M in startup
Why This Matters
Strategic repositioning of WhatsApp leadership signals Meta's focus on payments and commerce growth in India's massive market.
Meta named Kunal Shah, founder of Indian fintech CRED, as WhatsApp's new chief executive, replacing Will Cathcart. The move accompanies Meta's $900 million investment in CRED, valuing the company at $4.5 billion post-money.
Meta announced Kunal Shah will lead WhatsApp, succeeding Will Cathcart who steps down after nearly seven years to pursue a new product-building role at the company. Shah will resign as CRED's chief executive while maintaining his personal shareholding. The leadership change coincides with Meta investing $900 million in CRED through primary and secondary share purchases, making Meta a minority investor. WhatsApp has over 500 million users in India, its largest market, representing a significant portion of the app's 3 billion global users. Under Cathcart's leadership since 2019, WhatsApp expanded beyond private messaging with Communities, Channels, and AI integrations, while deepening business messaging focus. However, WhatsApp Pay achieved mixed results, gaining traction in India but struggling against competitors like PhonePe and Google Pay. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated Shah brought the 'builder mentality and global perspective' needed to lead the world's largest messaging app. Shah founded CRED in 2018, building it to 17 million monthly active users after earlier launching FreeCharge, an early Indian digital payments startup. He has become a prominent Indian investor, backing over 250 companies and serving in advisory roles across technology and financial services sectors. CRED's valuation has declined from its $6.4 billion peak in 2022 to $3.6 billion in May 2025.