Instagram founders quit over tension with Zuckerberg
Systrom and Krieger were able for years to resist Facebook product initiatives that went against their vision
The founders of Instagram are leaving Facebook after growing tension with CEO Mark Zuckerberg over the direction of the photo-sharing app, people familiar with the matter said. The stock dropped 2% in premarket trading on Tuesday. 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 people, who asked not to be identified sharing internal details.
Without the founders around, Instagram is likely to become more tightly integrated with Facebook, making it more of a product division within the company than an independent operation, the people said...
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