The co-founders of Instagram are leaving the photo-sharing company they founded in 2010.
Kevin Systrom, the CEO, and Mike Krieger, the CTO, launched Instagram eight years ago and the platform is now estimated to be worth more than US$100bn.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook purchased the app for $1bn back in 2012.
Systrom said: “Mike and I are grateful for the last eight years at Instagram and six years with the Facebook team.
“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.
“We’re planning on taking some time off to explore our curiosity and creativity again.
“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.
“We remain excited for the future of Instagram and Facebook in the coming years as we transition from leaders to two users in a billion.
“We look forward to watching what these innovative and extraordinary companies do next.”
The @instagram journey is one I won't forget. It started by building simple products that solved universal problems. Now eight years we look back and are proud and grateful to have been part of that journey. Thank you to the entire community as we move on for now.
— Kevin S. (@kevin) September 25, 2018
The news comes after reported tension grew between the Instagram co-founders and Facebook executives over diminishing independence and demands to direct more users from Instagram to Facebook.
Another prominent social media figure, WhatsApp co-founder and CEO Jan Koum, left parent company Facebook in April.
According to The Washington Post, Koum jumped ship amid arguments with Facebook over data privacy and the messaging app’s business model.
