WhatsApp head Chris Daniels resigns on ugly Thursday at Facebook

The head of Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging app, VP Chris Daniels, is leaving the company.

Daniels resigned on the same day Facebook’s third-highest-ranking executive, Chris Cox, announced his departure.

“Chris is one of the clearest and most principled business thinkers I’ve met and the diversity of challenges he has helped us navigate is impressive,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote.

Facebook’s current VP of product management Will Cathcart will replace Daniels as WhatsApp’s new leader, Zuckerberg said.

Daniels took over the leadership of WhatsApp last year after the founders of the service, Jan Koum and Brian Acton, left Facebook, citing directional disagreements with Zuckerberg.

The WhatsApp lead would normally have reported up to Chris Cox, but Cox told Facebook of his departure on Monday, according to a public filing, and made the announcement public on Thursday after market close.