On February 19, 2014, Facebook announced an agreement to acquire WhatsApp in a deal valued at approximately $19 billion. Started in 2009, WhatsApp had 450 million monthly active users and a team of just 55 people at the time. It had largely rejected advertising in favor of a small subscription fee. Being a Facebook shareholder, I wrote then that only time would tell whether the acquisition was a smart move.

But here’s what made the price so striking in February 2014: WhatsApp was valued above a long list of major public companies that had been around much longer. The figures below are period market-cap snapshots, not current valuations. Those companies sold tangible goods and services. WhatsApp’s value rested largely on the scale and engagement of its user base.

Congrats to WhatsApp on a historic exit and an inspiring moment for entrepreneurs.

Activision Blizzard – $13.9B

Alcoa – $12.2B

American Airlines – $12.3B

Akamai – $10.9B

AmerisourceBergen – $15.9B

Blackstone Group – $17.8B

Campbell Soup – $13.6B

Chesapeake Energy – $17.2B

Chipotle – $17.1B

Citrix Systems – $10.7B

Coach – $13.5B

Consolidated Edison (ConEd) – $16.2B

Discovery Communications – $19.1B

Dr. Pepper Snapple Group – $10.2B

Expedia – $10.2B

The Gap – $19B

Fidelity – $15.8B

Harley-Davidson – $14.1B

Hertz – $11.5B

Icahn Enterprises – $13.1B

The J.M. Smucker Company – $10B

Kohl’s – $11.1B

Kroger – $19.4B

Loews – $17B

Macy’s – $19.6B

Marriott International – $15.4B

Mattel – $12B

MGM Resorts – $12.7B

Monster Beverage – $12B

Moody’s – $17.08B

News Corp – $10.27B

Nielsen – $17.6B

Nordstrom – $11.4B

Progressive – $14.3B

Ralph Lauren – $14.2B

Red Hat – $11.1B

Royal Caribbean Cruises – $11.4B

Ryanair – $15.5B

Sherwin-Williams – $19.4B

Southwest Airlines – $14.7B

Starwood Hotels & Resorts – $14.9B

Symantec – $14.4B

TD Ameritrade – $18.4B

The Carlyle Group – $11.1B

Tiffany & Co. – $11.4B

Tyson Foods – $13.1B

Under Armour – $11.4B

Whole Foods Market – $19.3B

Workday – $17B

Xerox – $13.2B

And to make the story even sweeter, co-founder Jan Koum had applied unsuccessfully for jobs at Twitter and Facebook in 2009. Five years later, Facebook agreed to buy the company he helped build. Now how’s that for a happy ending?