New York
CNN Business
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Instagram has appointed a new leader.
On Monday, the platform revealed that Adam Mosseri is taking over Instagram’s leadership immediately. This announcement follows last week’s news of the departure of the company’s founders, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger.
“We are excited to hand over the leadership to a product expert with an impressive design background and a commitment to quality and simplicity, along with a profound understanding of community significance,” stated Systrom and Krieger.
Mosseri, who became part of Facebook, the parent company of Instagram, in 2008, has served in multiple capacities, including head of News Feed and design director for Facebook’s mobile applications. His latest role was as Instagram’s VP of product. In his new position, he will manage “all business functions” and will assemble a fresh executive team, including heads for engineering, product, and operations.
Prior to their exits, Systrom served as CEO while Krieger held the position of chief technology officer.
The duo originally launched the photo-sharing service in a co-working space back in 2010. It quickly gained traction, amassing millions of users before they sold it to Facebook (FB) in 2012 for $1 billion.
With the backing of Facebook, Instagram continued its expansion, introducing new features such as videos, ephemeral posts, and, more recently, a platform for long-form content called IGTV. According to Instagram, the app currently boasts over 1 billion monthly active users.
While it’s not unusual for founders to leave after acquisition, it’s noteworthy that Systrom and Krieger remained for six years following Facebook’s purchase of their company.
The future plans of the two remain uncertain. In a statement issued last week, Systrom remarked: “We intend to take some time off to reignite our curiosity and creativity. Creating new ventures necessitates stepping back to understand our inspirations and aligning that with the world’s needs; that’s our goal.”
The exit of Systrom and Krieger comes less than six months after Jan Koum left his position as CEO of the messaging platform WhatsApp, which Facebook acquired in 2014 for $19 billion.
Brian Acton, another co-founder of WhatsApp, departed from Facebook in 2017. Earlier this year, he voiced support for calls to delete Facebook following revelations that Cambridge Analytica accessed millions of users’ data without their consent.
