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**Read What Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook Execs Said About Instagram Before Buying It**
In the early days of Instagram’s growth, Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other executives expressed concerns about the app’s potential impact on their own platform. The company considered acquiring Instagram in 2011 but ultimately decided not to pursue it. However, as Instagram continued to gain popularity, Facebook eventually acquired it for $1 billion in April 2012.
In February 2012, Zuckerberg wrote that he thought there was a “serious argument” to be made for buying Instagram, along with other popular apps like Path and Pinterest, if they could structure the deal in a way that allowed them to continue running the products while transitioning the teams to work on Facebook’s core platform. He also suggested focusing future development on their own products and not killing off Instagram’s camera features.
Facebook’s chief product officer Chris Cox echoed these sentiments in an email from September 2011, stating that he believed the company should focus on its own mobile experience and create a separate app for photo-sharing, rather than acquiring or merging with Instagram.
Despite these concerns, Facebook ultimately decided to continue focusing on its core platform rather than pursuing an acquisition. However, as Instagram’s popularity grew and it became clear that the app was not going anywhere, Facebook reconsidered its stance.
In February 2012, Zuckerberg wrote that he thought the company might want to buy Instagram if they could structure a deal that allowed them to keep the product running while transitioning the teams to work on their own products. He also suggested that the acquisition would give Facebook a year or more to integrate Instagram’s dynamics before new competitors emerged.
This changed stance is likely due to Instagram’s rapid growth and its potential to compete with Facebook in the photo-sharing space. The acquisition ultimately happened later that year, when Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion.
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/19/read-what-mark-zuckerberg-and-facebook-execs-said-about-instagram-before-buying-it/
