Jan Koum grew up in Mountain View, California, on welfare and he just wrote the biggest check in Israeli healthcare history.
WhatsApp co-founder has donated $200 million to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem through the Koum Family Foundation, a gift that will help build a new 24-story tower and double the hospital’s current capacity of around 1,000 beds. The institution will officially be renamed Koum Shaare Zedek Medical Center.
In a statement given to eJewishPhilanthropy, Koum said, “We are proud to partner with Shaare Zedek Medical Center, an institution that defines medical excellence in Jerusalem and beyond. This gift reflects our confidence in a future of medical innovation and research that will benefit patients in Israel and around the world.”
A story that sounds like it was made for Hollywood
The story of Koum’s life reads like a movie. Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 1976, he moved to Mountain View, California, with his mother at age 16. When his mother was diagnosed with cancer, the family lived on her disability income, relying on government assistance and food stamps. He learned programming on his own, worked at Yahoo, then co-founded WhatsApp in 2009.
Five years later, the app was acquired by Facebook for $19 billion. In what has since become Silicon Valley legend, Koum signed the acquisition papers on the doorstep of the very welfare office where he once stood in line with his mother. It was more than just a business deal. It was like a full circle.
What $200 million actually builds
The new 24-story tower will cover over 1.5 million square feet and will house expanded surgical and emergency care facilities, protected underground spaces and a rooftop helipad, the Jerusalem Post reported. The tower will also include medical staff, a pragmatic but often ignored requirement in a city where housing costs are a real hurdle in attracting top talent.
