Acton says the messaging app company had talked with Google about a potential acquisition back in 2011, but the startup decided against it. At one point, Google founder Larry Page had asked to be given the opportunity to bid on the app if they were eventually open to selling, Acton testifies. But WhatsApp never went back to Google to solicit an offer once Meta agreed to buy it for about $19 billion in 2014, he says, adding that Google was not as good of a fit at the time.