Instagram has a new boss: Adam Mosseri, who led Facebook’s news feed team for many years.
Mosseri takes on one of Facebook’s fastest-growing properties after Instagram founders, CEO Kevin Systrom and chief technology officer Mike Krieger, resigned last week following tension with Facebook over the direction of the service, according to people familiar with the matter.
Mosseri, whose title will be head of Instagram, announced his new role in an Instagram post posing with the founders.
“I want to thank them for trusting me to carry forward the values that they have established,” Mosseri said. “I will do my best to make them, the team and the Instagram community proud.”
Separately, the founders posted a message on Instagram’s blog aiming to instill confidence that the photo-sharing app will remain committed to the values of its users, even with a new leader.
The messages from Mosseri and the founders were an attempt to establish a smooth transition, despite disagreements between Instagram and Facebook executives over the last few months.
Without the founders at Instagram arguing for a distinct vision for the product, employees have feared that the product will be even more tightly integrated with Facebook. — Reported by Sarah Frier, (c) 2018 Bloomberg LP
