Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, the co-founders of the photo-sharing app Instagram, have resigned and plan to step down from the company in the coming weeks, The New York Times is reporting.
This adds to the challenges facing Instagram’s parent company, Facebook.
Systrom, 34, Instagram’s chief executive, and Krieger, 32, the chief technological officer, informed Instagram’s leadership team and Facebook on Monday of their decision to leave. The Instagram co-founders did not give a reason for stepping down, but did explain they plan to take time off after leaving Instagram.
In a statement late Monday, Systrom said he and Krieger were “ready for our next chapter,” and hinted that they would be creating something new next.
Mark Zuckerberg responds to Instagram cofounders’ departure: pic.twitter.com/n6flCUvZMQ
— Jo Ling Kent (@jolingkent) September 25, 2018
The departure raises questions about Instagram’s future at a time when Facebook is facing its biggest set of crises in its 14-year history. Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion, when it had about 30 million users. Since then, the company has proven Facebook’s most successful acquisition.
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