WhatsApp Founder Jan Koum Makes Record-Breaking $200 Million Donation to Jerusalem Hospital

WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum has made the largest-ever single donation to an Israeli hospital, gifting $200 million to Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Medical Center through the Koum Family Foundation.

The unprecedented gift will fund the construction of an 800-bed hospitalisation tower over the next six years, with plans to fill the entire space within a decade. The new tower will dramatically expand the hospital's capacity to serve patients from Jerusalem and beyond, easing chronic overcrowding that has long plagued the facility.

"This is a transformative moment for Shaare Zedek and for healthcare in Jerusalem," said Prof. Ofer Merin, the hospital's Director-General. "Mr. Koum's extraordinary generosity will allow us to serve thousands more patients every year and set a new standard for medical care in Israel."

Koum, who immigrated to the United States from Ukraine as a child and co-founded WhatsApp before selling it to Facebook for $19 billion, has a track record of philanthropic giving focused on Jewish and Israeli causes. His foundation has previously supported education, community development, and medical research initiatives.

The donation was solicited by Prof. Jonathan Halevy, Shaare Zedek's president and former director-general of 31 years, who approached Koum with a vision for the hospital's future. The connection between the two men led to what is now the largest philanthropic gift in the hospital's history.

Construction on the new tower is expected to begin within the next year, with completion targeted for 2032.

This is Hannah Berg for Global1 News, reporting from Tel Aviv. 🇮🇱