Signal CEO resigns, Brian Acton WhatsApp co-founder to take over as interim CEO

Messaging app Signal founder and CEO Moxie Marlinspike will step down and WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton to take over as interim CEO, Marlinspike said in a blog post Monday. "It's a new year, and I've decided it's a good time to replace myself as the CEO of Signal", he said. Marlinspike, who will remain on Signal's board, said he is scouting for candidates for the permanent CEO position. "After a decade or more, it's difficult to overstate how important Signal is to me, but I now feel very comfortable replacing myself as CEO based on the team we have, and also believe that it is an important step for expanding on Signal's success. I've been talking with candidates over the last few months, but want to open up the search with this announcement in order to help find the best person for the next decade of Signal," he said in the blog post.

Acton founded Signal's rival messaging app WhatsApp in 2009. The company was bought by Meta Platforms, later Facebook, in 2014. Acton later left WhatsApp in 2017 due to differences in customer data usage and targeted advertising, according to the Signal website. In February 2018, together with Marlinspike, he started the non-profit Signal Foundation, which currently oversees the app, by providing seed funding of $ 50 million (approximately Rs 369 crore).

In his blog post, Marlinspike also thanked the Signal team and users for the success of the app thus far. "Thank you to everyone who has helped make Signal what it is, has been supportive of what we're building, and has been there along the way. We already have so much exciting work that's coming soon in the pipeline right now, and I'm optimistic about all the potential for Signal over the next decade," he said.

Signal, an end-to-end encrypted messaging platform, is endorsed by the likes of Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and whistleblower and privacy advocate Edward Snowden.