WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton leaves company to start his own foundation

Brian Acton, the co-founder of WhatsApp which was later acquired by Facebook, on Wednesday announced that he was leaving the company to start a non-profit venture of his own.

"After 8 years at WhatsApp, I have decided to move on and start a new chapter in my life," Acton wrote on Facebook.

"I have decided to start a non-profit focused at the intersection of nonprofit, technology and communications," he added. 

"I am very fortunate at my age to have the flexibility to take new risks and focus on what I'm passionate about," he said.

Acton spent eight years with WhatsApp, which Facebook bought in 2014 for $19 billion in cash and stock.

A Stanford alumnus, Acton co-founded WhatsApp with Ukrainian immigrant Jan Koum in 2009. The duo worked at Yahoo before starting WhatsApp.