Instagram founders exit Facebook as tensions grow
Photo-sharing app likely to become more tightly integrated with Facebook
The founders of Instagram are leaving Facebook Inc. after growing tensions with chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg over the direction of the photosharing app, people familiar with the matter said. The stock dropped 2 per cent in pre-market trading yesterday.
Shares of Facebook Inc fell more than 2 per cent in early trading yesterday after the two founders of photosharing app left the social networking giant under unexplained circumstances.
Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, who have been at the company since Instagram’s acquisition by Facebook in 2012, had been able to keep the brand and product independent while relying on Facebook’s infrastructure and resources to grow. Lately, they were frustrated with an uptick in day-to-day involvement by Zuckerberg, who has become more reliant on Instagram in planning for Facebook’s future, said the sources.
Without the founders around, Instagram is likely to become more tightly integrated with Facebook, making it more of a product division within the larger company, the people said. For years, Systrom and Krieger were able to amicably resist certain Facebook product initiatives that they felt went against their vision.