Brian Acton is a billionaire technology entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of mobile messenger app WhatsApp. ¹

WhatsApp was sold to Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook (now Meta) for roughly $22 billion in 2014. After the sale, Acton and his wife, Tegan Acton, used some $1 billion worth of assets to found Wildcard Giving, a network of philanthropic programs. Acton also co-founded the Signal Foundation with messenger app Signal founder Moxie Marlinspike in 2018. Through the Signal Foundation and Wildcard’s subsidiary nonprofit organizations, Acton has financially supported advocacy efforts related to abortion access and internet privacy, as well as San Francisco Bay Area charities. ^{2 1 3}

Background

Brian Acton worked as a software engineer for more than 25 years at technology companies, such as Adobe, Apple, and Yahoo!. Acton left his role as vice president of engineering at Yahoo! in 2007. ^{1 4}

In 2009, Acton co-founded WhatsApp, a mobile messenger smartphone app, with Jan Koum. ^{1 4}

In 2014, WhatsApp was sold to Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook (now Meta) for $22 billion. Shortly after the sale, Acton quit the company due to differences with leadership on questions of user data and targeted advertising. These philosophical disagreements led to his interest in digital privacy initiatives. He co-founded the Signal Foundation to pursue these initiatives. ^{2 1}

Philanthropy

Wildcard Giving

After the sale of WhatsApp in 2014, Acton and his wife, Tegan Acton, used some $1 billion worth of assets to found Wildcard Giving, a network of philanthropic programs. ²

The Wildcard Giving network is made up of three subsidiary nonprofit organizations: Sunlight Giving, Acton Family Giving, and Solidarity Giving. According to Wildcard, the nonprofits have distinct missions but share a commitment to “dignity, agency, justice and self-determination,” as well as “collective responsibility.” ⁵

Sunlight Giving describes itself as a charity to lift children and youth in the Silicon Valley region out of poverty. As of 2024, Sunlight Giving reported about $449.3 million in net assets. It is a private foundation. ^{5 6}

Acton Family Giving funds organizations and projects that “the Actons have a personal connection to,” and is described as “a home for work, ideas, and efforts that further” the family’s “commitment to community.” As of 2026, it operated as a donor-advised fund at Fidelity Charitable. ⁵

Solidarity Giving funds organizations committed to center-left and left-of-center political goals and policies. As of 2026, it operates as a donor-advised fund at Fidelity Charitable. ⁵

Solidarity Giving has disbursed grants to pro-abortion nonprofits in the past, including the Guttmacher Institute. Through Solidarity Giving’s grant, Guttmacher was able to launch the “Reproductive Health in Crisis Initiative” to “monitor and expose” policies of the first Trump administration. ³

As of 2026, Brian and Tegan Acton were presiding over Wildcard as co-chairs. Additionally, Tegan was serving as the principal of all three of Wildcard’s subsidiary nonprofits. ⁴

Signal Foundation

In February 2018, Brian Acton co-founded the Signal Foundation with Moxie Marlinspike, the founder of messenger app Signal. Acton invested $50 million in the Signal Foundation as an endowment. ¹

The stated goal of the Signal Foundation is to ensure that private communications can be “accessible, secure and ubiquitous,” which it aims to do by providing financial support to technology projects so they can develop without a “profit motive.” ¹

As of 2026, Acton was executive chairman of the Signal Technology Foundation. ⁴

1. “Signal Foundation.” Signal Foundation. Accessed March 23, 2026. https://signalfoundation.org/.
2. “$1 billion in quiet giving by Brian and Tegan Acton focuses on meeting basic needs for low-income area families; supports empathy-building through cultural and reproductive equity grants; and targets systemic justice issues nationally.” Lifestyle Magazine. Accessed March 23, 2026. https://lifestylesmagazine.com/latest-news/1-billion-in-quiet-giving-by-brian-and-tegan-acton-focuses-on-meeting-basic-needs-for-low-income-area-families-supports-empathy-building-through-cultural-and-reproductive-equity-grants-and-targets/.
3. Adeniji, Ade. “How Billionaire Couple Tegan and Brian Acton Are Giving in the Bay Area and Beyond.” Inside Philanthropy, December 20, 2021. Accessed March 23, 2026. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2021-12-20-how-billionaire-couple-tegan-and-brian-acton-are-giving-in-the-bay-area-and-beyond.
4. “Meet the Team.” Acton Family Giving. Accessed March 23, 2026. https://actonfamilygiving.org/about-us/meet-team.
5. “Home.” Wildcard Giving. Accessed March 23, 2026. https://wildcardgiving.org/.
6. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Sunlight Giving. 2024. Part I, lines 12, 26, and 29.