WhatsApp's parent company Meta has announced that CRED founder and CEO Kunal Shah will take over as the head of one of the world's largest messaging platforms. Shah will be succeeding Will Cathcart, who has been the WhatsApp CEO for the past 8 years. This transition also comes alongside Meta making a significant investment in CRED.
Meta Invests $900 Million in CRED Alongside Leadership Change
Both Kunal Shah and Will Cathcart announced the leadership change via X posts. Shah confirmed that he is stepping down as the CEO of CRED to take over as WhatsApp's CEO. Meanwhile, Miten Sampat, one of CRED's earlier team members, will serve as the company's interim CEO.
As part of the transition, Meta has also invested $900 million (approximately Rs 8,550 crores) in CRED, becoming a 20% stakeholder in the Indian fintech business. A portion of this has also been enabled in ESOP buybacks.
Both Shah and Sampat have confirmed that Meta will act as a minority, passive financial investor with no involvement in day-to-day operations or access to user data. The funding has been acquired at a current valuation of $3.5 to $3.6 million.
With Kunal Shah becoming the next head of WhatsApp, it will be interesting to see where he takes the messaging platform next. He has a proven track record of successful ventures as a venture capitalist. He also made CRED profitable in 2026, for the first time and is now handing over the baton to Miten Sampat to take on a larger role at a global scale.
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