WhatsApp founder gives record £147m donation to Jerusalem hospital
Gift from WhatsApp billionaire Jan Koum will fund major expansion at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Centre
WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum has donated £147 million ($200 million) to Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Centre, in what is believed to be the largest philanthropic gift ever made to an Israeli hospital.
The donation from the Jewish-Ukrainian billionaire’s family foundation will help fund a major new inpatient centre and accommodation for medical staff, dramatically expanding the hospital’s capacity. The hospital said the gift would also see the institution renamed Koum Shaare Zedek Medical Centre.
According to Israeli broadcaster i24NEWS, the development is expected to triple the size of the Jerusalem medical centre, which currently operates around 1,000 hospital beds. Shaare Zedek treats more than one million patients each year and is one of Israel’s largest hospitals.
The planned 24-storey medical tower will include expanded surgical and emergency care facilities, underground protected spaces and a rooftop helipad for direct helicopter access, according to the hospital. The project has already been approved by the Israeli government and the Jerusalem municipality.
Koum, 50, emigrated from Ukraine to the United States as a teenager before co-founding WhatsApp, which was sold to Meta in 2014 in one of the largest technology acquisitions in history. Since then, he has become one of the world’s most prominent Jewish philanthropists.
Announcing the donation, Koum said: “We are proud to partner with Shaare Zedek Medical Centre, an institution that defines medical excellence in Jerusalem and beyond.”
The contribution reportedly surpasses the previous record donation to Israel’s healthcare system, set last year when Anat and Shmuel Harlap donated £132 million ($180 million) to Beilinson Hospital.
Shaare Zedek president Prof. Jonathan Halevy described the contribution as “a heartfelt embrace of Zionism” and said the investment would positively impact “the Israeli and Jewish people for generations to come.”
The expansion plans are already progressing through Jerusalem planning authorities, as Israeli hospitals increasingly turn to large private donations to support healthcare infrastructure projects.
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