Author: Karissa Bell / Source: Mashable
Instagram will soon be without its founders for the first time ever.
With CEO Kevin Systrom and CTO Mike Krieger leaving soon, the future of the photo-sharing app will be much more controlled by Facebook executives, which could have big implications for the service.
News of the departures sent shockwaves around Silicon Valley, primarily because it was so unexpected. Though it’s common for founders to depart a company after an acquisition, Instagram’s founding duo has long been an exception.
The abrupt nature of the news itself, which broke late Monday night, immediately gave rise to rumors that the resignations had come as the result of some greater falling out with Facebook’s upper management.
Systrom was scheduled to keynote next year’s South by Southwest, and had other speaking engagements lined up for the coming months. What’s more, Instagram only just opened a new San Francisco office, a decision that was driven, at least in part, by Systrom’s desire to cut down on his commute and be closer to his family, according to a Wall Street Journal profile published today (Systrom’s resignation came after the story had gone to press, according to the WSJ.)
Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg, who often pens effusive send-offs for high-ranking execs, issued an unusually brief statement, which was not published on his Facebook page or, notably, his Instagram account.
And while it’s not clear if there was any one cause for the sudden resignations, multiple reports indicate that Systrom and Krieger had grown increasingly uncomfortable with Facebook executives’ involvement, and their efforts to bring the two services closer together.
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