The founders of Instagram lead the way out, leaving Mark Zuckerberg in Total Control



[ad_1]

By Christophe Morin / IP3 / Getty Images.

Part of Mark Zuckerberg The strategy of global domination required a series of careful acquisitions. In recent years, the Facebook C.E.O. has bought WhatsApp for $ 19 billion and Oculus, a virtual reality start-up, for $ 2 billion. One of his most important purchases dates back to 2012, when he bought Instagram for only $ 1 billion. Since then, the application has become one of the jewels of Facebook and now has more than one billion users. . Zuckerberg's record with the founders of these companies is less brilliant: Palmer Luckey, the co-founder of wunderkind Oculus, left Facebook in 2017, and Jan Koum, the C.E.O. and co-founder of WhatsApp, left in May disagreements over WhatsApp's "strategy" and Facebook's attempts to use its personal data and weaken its encryption, "sources said at the time. Now, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, The co-founders of Instagram also announced that they would leave the company, apparently leaving Zuckerberg under full control.

The New York Times reported the departure of Systrom and Krieger on Monday; In a statement, they said they were "ready for our next chapter" and added that they would take some time before embarking on a new project. "Building new things requires us to step back, to understand what inspires us and what the world needs; that's what we intend to do, "wrote Systrom. Facebook gave no reason for their departure, but in a statement, Zuckerberg wished Systrom and Krieger "all the best, and I look forward to seeing what they will build next."

As for Koum, it seems that the tension between Zuck and the co-founders is to blame. Instagram experienced a period of autonomy after its initial acquisition, but the wall began to widen as Facebook executives Adam Mosseri and Chris Cox weighed on product decisions. Although Zuckerberg and Systrom reportedly had good working relationships, sources told TechCrunch that Instagram's co-founder was uncomfortable with Zuckerberg's willingness to cross each other. "Kevin wanted to keep the sharing on Instagram, but at one point, Mark wanted the content on Instagram to be posted on Facebook," the source said. "Things have warmed up recently. "Recently, Mark decided to put all the links on Instagram from Facebook." "The" familiar "people echoed Bloomberg News, attributing this defection to" growing tensions. . . on the direction of the photo sharing application. (Facebook declined to comment on Bloomberg on these tensions.)

The growing influence of Facebook on Instagram has been evident even for regular users. The Settings and Notifications section of Instagram now displays prompts to connect to Facebook or to open the Facebook app, which marks a decisive departure for an application that has managed to be resolutely without Facebook. It is unclear what will become of Instagram's strategy without Systrom and Krieger, even though Mosseri, who has long been responsible for News Feed on Facebook, would be a potential candidate to take over the founders' jobs. His placement near Instagram, said a source at TechCrunch, was considered a "succession planning for Kevin and Mike. Mark is a brilliant strategist and, of course, he will want to install someone.

New leaders loyal to Zuckerberg may be more willing to make changes that bring Instagram and Facebook closer together. But doing so, higher companies could risk destroying the qualities that make Instagram a unique and valuable asset. Although the last two years have been turbulent for Facebook – the company has faced irrefutable evidence that it has been armed by foreign operators, not to mention a massive user data scandal – Instagram has remained largely isolated from crisis. stalled. Now, the founders of Facebook's most valuable asset are coming out of their homes, and Facebook has no message prepared to explain why.

[ad_2]
Source link