You’ve probably heard the rumors. Maybe a friend told you that the Chinese government secretly bought it, or that Facebook (Meta) actually owns it behind a curtain of shell companies. People love a good conspiracy, especially when it comes to the apps that hold our most private secrets.
But the reality of who own signal app is actually much stranger—and honestly, more boring—than the internet rumors suggest. It isn't a company. It isn't a billionaire's plaything. Technically, nobody "owns" Signal in the way we usually think about ownership.
The Foundation Loophole
Most tech apps you use are owned by shareholders. When you use Instagram, Mark Zuckerberg is the boss because Meta is a for-profit corporation. When you use Signal, you’re interacting with a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
Specifically, the Signal Technology Foundation is the entity at the top.
Underneath that foundation sits Signal Messenger LLC. This is the actual company that handles the code and the servers. But because the LLC is wholly owned by the nonprofit foundation, there are no stocks to buy. There are no dividends to pay out. There is no "exit strategy" where a bigger fish swallows them up for $20 billion.
It's a structure designed to be "un-buyable."
The Brian Acton Factor
You can't talk about Signal’s ownership without talking about Brian Acton. He’s the guy who co-founded WhatsApp and then walked away from $850 million because he couldn't stand how Facebook wanted to monetize user data.
In 2018, Acton teamed up with Moxie Marlinspike, the original creator of Signal. Acton didn't just join the board; he put his money where his mouth was. He gave the Signal Technology Foundation a $105 million loan.
Wait, a loan?
Yeah. It’s a 0% interest loan that doesn't have to be paid back until 2068. In the world of high finance, that’s basically a gift. It gave Signal the runway to hire engineers and scale up without ever having to look for Venture Capital (VC) funding. As of 2026, Acton serves as the CEO of Signal Messenger LLC, while also chairing the foundation.
He’s the money and the leadership, but he doesn't "own" the equity. If Signal ever goes bankrupt, he doesn't get a payout. The assets would likely have to be transferred to another nonprofit with a similar mission.
Who is calling the shots in 2026?
While Brian Acton handles the CEO duties, the face of the organization has largely shifted to Meredith Whittaker.
She took over as President in 2022 and has been the one screaming from the rooftops about encryption and government overreach. If you’re looking for the "boss," she’s it. Whittaker came from Google, where she famously led the 2018 walkouts. She’s not a corporate suit; she’s a researcher and an activist.
Then there's Moxie Marlinspike. He’s the guy who started the whole thing under the name Open Whisper Systems. He stepped down as CEO a few years ago but still sits on the board. Interestingly, as of early 2026, Moxie has been busy with a new project called Confer, an AI assistant focused on the same "zero-knowledge" privacy that made Signal famous.
The board that oversees everything is a small, tight-knit group:
- Brian Acton (The Founder/Funder)
- Meredith Whittaker (The President)
- Moxie Marlinspike (The Creator)
- Katherine Maher (Former CEO of Wikipedia)
- Jay Sullivan (Tech veteran from Mozilla and Twitter)
Why the "Ownership" question matters
Usually, when people ask who own signal app, what they’re actually asking is: Is my data safe from the people in charge?
The answer lies in the "Signal Protocol." Even if the entire board of directors turned evil tomorrow, they still couldn't read your messages. The app is built so that the "owners" never have the keys to the kingdom.
Everything is end-to-end encrypted. Signal doesn't store your metadata. They don't know who you’re talking to, when you’re talking to them, or what you’re saying. In court cases where the FBI has subpoenaed Signal, the organization basically hands over a blank sheet of paper because they simply don't have the data.
How do they pay the bills?
If nobody owns it and there are no ads, how do they keep the lights on?
- User Donations: This is the big one. If you’ve seen that little "Donate to Signal" badge in your settings, that’s their lifeblood.
- Grants: They get money from organizations like the Freedom of the Press Foundation.
- The Acton Loan: That $105 million is still the cushion that keeps them from panicking.
Running a global messaging app isn't cheap. We're talking millions of dollars a month in server costs and developer salaries. It’s a risky model, but so far, it’s working.
Misconceptions about CIA funding
There is a persistent myth that Signal was "built by the CIA" or the US government. This comes from the fact that early in its life (around 2013-2016), the project received some funding from the Open Technology Fund (OTF).
The OTF is funded by the US government, but its mission is specifically to support tools that help people circumvent censorship in places like China and Iran. Many open-source privacy projects have taken OTF money. Does that mean the government owns Signal? No. The code is open-source. Anyone—and I mean anyone—can go to GitHub right now and inspect every single line of code Signal uses. If there were a "backdoor" for the CIA, a security researcher would have found it years ago.
Keeping your Signal account private
Understanding who own signal app is just the first step. If you're serious about your privacy, ownership is less important than how you actually use the tool.
First, enable Registration Lock. This prevents someone from hijacking your phone number and registering your account on a different device. You’ll create a PIN that only you know.
Second, use Disappearing Messages. Even if the app is secure, your physical phone might not be. If you lose your phone or it gets confiscated, you don't want a five-year history of every joke and secret sitting there for anyone to see. Setting messages to disappear after a day or a week is just good hygiene.
Finally, verify your Safety Numbers. When you start a chat, you can compare a QR code or a string of numbers with the person you’re talking to. This proves that no "man-in-the-middle" is intercepting the connection. It’s the ultimate check against any technical funny business.
The bottom line is that Signal isn't a company you have to trust; it's a protocol you can verify. As long as it stays a nonprofit, the incentives remain aligned with the users rather than the advertisers.
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To stay on top of your privacy, go into your Signal settings right now and check two things: ensure your Registration Lock is on and set your default Disappearing Messages timer to something you're comfortable with. Check these every few months to make sure an update hasn't toggled them off.