New York, March 4 (IANS): Following Facebook's $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp, the two founders of the popular mobile messaging service have now earned a new distinction - a place in the Forbes's list of global billionaires.
According to Forbes, 38-year-old Jan Koum, who ranks 202 in the list, is now worth $6.8 billion and 42-year-old Brian Acton (rank 551) is worth $3 billion.
Run by just 55 employees, WhatsApp has over 450 million active users.
Koum and Acton are among 26 newcomers who made it fresh to the annual list, alongside Twitter's Evan Williams, who has a fortune of $3 billion.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates topped the list with his $76 billion fortune.
Mexican telecommunication magnate Slim Helu came in second with his fortune of $72 billion.
However, according to the Forbes report, it was Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg who made the most money in the world over the past year.
From 2013's estimate of $15.2 billion to $28.5 billion this year, Zuckerberg's net worth nearly doubled within one year.
This year's annual rich list has the largest number of female billionaires ever, said Forbes.