“While Facebook surely saw value in owning WhatsApp and managing a broader portfolio of digital businesses, I suspect this was more of a defensive move. They decided to trade 10% of their market cap to ensure they own — not Google or somebody else — this hot new platform, and also to hedge against the risk that WhatsApp might eventually displacing Facebook itself as the king of the social world. While the valuation shocked the world, that strategic calculation was wise. “

Source: Steve Case on 10 Lessons We Can Learn From WhatsApp