APPS
APPS
APPS
Facebook appoints Adam Mosseri to lead Instagram after resignation of founders
Facebook Inc. today appointed Adam Mosseri, previously Instagram’s vice president of product, to lead the photo-sharing social network following the resignation of co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger Sept. 24.
In an effort to allay fears of internal dissent, the announcement was made by Systrom (pictured, right) and Krieger (left), who posed smiling together with Mosseri (middle).
While officially leaving Instagram to take “some time off to explore our curiosity and creativity again” and possibly to pursue building a new startup from scratch, rumors have circulated since the announcement that the real reason the pair were departing was disagreements with Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg over the direction of the app.
Their resignation also followed in the steps of Jan Koum, co-founder and CEO of Facebook-owned messaging giant WhatsApp, who quit Facebook in April over disagreements over data privacy, advertising and encryption.
The appointment of Mosseri was pitched as bringing continuity to Instagram. “Since we announced our departure, many people have asked us what we hope for the future of Instagram,” Systrom and Krieger said in a blog post. “To us, the most important thing is keeping our community — all of you — front and center in all that Instagram does. We believe that Adam will hold true to these values and that Instagram will continue to thrive.”
Although Mosseri has been appointed from within the ranks of Instagram, he only joined Instagram in May and prior to that was a Facebook veteran who had served in multiple roles. Prior to Instagram, he was in charge of Facebook’s News Feed for a number of years and before that he led Facebook Home, a failed attempt to sell a Facebook-branded version of Android.
Notably, he is also seen as being close to Zuckerberg. Systrom and Krieger may be selling the idea of Instagram being in safe hands with Mosseri, but Recode noted that the move comes at a time Zuckerberg “seems to be tightening control on all Facebook’s standalone apps, including Instagram.”
Zuckerberg lackey or not, Mosseri does have solid experience and Instagram could be in far worse hands.
Photo: Instagram
A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:
Support our mission to keep content open and free by engaging with theCUBE community. Join theCUBE’s Alumni Trust Network, where technology leaders connect, share intelligence and create opportunities.
- 15M+ viewers of theCUBE videos, powering conversations across AI, cloud, cybersecurity and more
- 11.4k+ theCUBE alumni — Connect with more than 11,400 tech and business leaders shaping the future through a unique trusted-based network.
About SiliconANGLE Media
SiliconANGLE Media is a recognized leader in digital media innovation, uniting breakthrough technology, strategic insights and real-time audience engagement. As the parent company of SiliconANGLE, theCUBE Network, theCUBE Research, CUBE365, theCUBE AI and theCUBE SuperStudios — with flagship locations in Silicon Valley and the New York Stock Exchange — SiliconANGLE Media operates at the intersection of media, technology and AI.
Founded by tech visionaries John Furrier and Dave Vellante, SiliconANGLE Media has built a dynamic ecosystem of industry-leading digital media brands that reach 15+ million elite tech professionals. Our new proprietary theCUBE AI Video Cloud is breaking ground in audience interaction, leveraging theCUBEai.com neural network to help technology companies make data-driven decisions and stay at the forefront of industry conversations.
