Instagram Co-Founders Abruptly Resign

The co-founders of Instagram are resigning their positions with the social media company without much in the way of warning. Chief Executive Kevin Systrom said in a statement late Monday that he and Mike Krieger, Instagram's chief technical officer, plan to leave the company in the next few weeks and take time off "to explore our curiosity and creativity again." "Mike and I are grateful for the last eight years at Instagram and six years with the Facebook team," Systrom said. "We've grown from 13 people to over a thousand with offices around the world, all while building products used and loved by a community of over one billion. We're now ready for our next chapter." Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion in 2012.

"Building new things requires that we step back, understand what inspires us and match that with what the world needs; that's what we plan to do," Systrom said. No further explanation was given for their sudden departure from the photo-sharing network they founded in 2010. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg called the pair "extraordinary product leaders" and said he was looking forward "to seeing what they build next." The departures are a challenge for Facebook. Instagram has been a bright spot for the company not just because it's seen as a more uplifting place than Facebook itself, but because it is popular with teens and young people—a group Facebook has had trouble keeping around, the AP reports.

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