In short: Instagram Vice President of Product, Adam Mosseri, is likely to take over Facebook’s social media subsidiary following the exit of the platform’s two co-founders, The Information reports, citing insiders close to the company. The same sources suggest co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger had a tense relationship with their parent company over the last several months as CEO Mark Zuckerberg wanted to intertwine Instagram and Facebook in a more aggressive manner, taking a lot of control from the photo-sharing platform. The tensions may have at least partially prompted their sudden departure which Facebook didn’t plan for, as evidenced by the fact that the top candidate to replace them has only been promoted to his current role four months ago.
Background: Mr. Mosseri previously led Facebook’s News Feed unit and was only appointed to manage Instagram’s Product division two months ago as part of the largest restructuring in the history of the Menlo Park, California-based Internet juggernaut. Krieger and Systrom did not publicly disclose a reason for their departures, having only said they want to take some time off work in order to explore their “curiosity and creativity again.” The veteran executives confirmed they’ll eventually be returning to the technology industry but provided no specific timeline for that plan. They co-founded Instagram eight years ago and sold it to Facebook for $1 billion after two years, subsequently growing it into one of the largest social media networks on the planet with over a billion users.
Impact: Mr. Mosseri’s appointment — though it has yet to be officially confirmed — is a strong indication that the two Instagram co-founders didn’t plan their departure long in advance as their likely replacement has only been in his current position for several months. Coupled with insider claims that the duo had a tense relationship with Facebook‘s management in recent times, it appears the Internet juggernaut has an unstable few months ahead of it until its leadership is whole again.fa