Facebook has confirmed Adam Mosseri will take on the top job at its photo-sharing social media platform Instagram after co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger announced their departures last week.
The pair confirmed that they would take some time off to “explore our curiosity and creativity again”.
Go deeper with GlobalData
The reason behind their exit is unknown. However, there has been some suggestion that the Instagram co-founders were unhappy with the involvement of Facebook’s leadership in the running of Instagram, despite promises that the app would remain autonomous from its parent company when they agreed to the $1bn sale in 2012.
The man selected as their replacement, a member of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s “inner circle”, will likely be far more open to involving to Facebook in Instagram’s affairs. But who is Adam Mosseri?
Who is Adam Mosseri, the new head of Instagram?
Mosseri’s appointment as Facebook’s Head of Instagram comes a decade after he joined the social media giant.
He joined Facebook as a Product Designer in July 2008, before moving into a management role within his first 12 months with the company.
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By GlobalDataWhile studying for a degree in Information Design at New York University, Mosseri co-founded an architecture firm, Blank Mosseri. Working as creative director, Mosseri held the position for five years.
He found his way into the tech world as a product designer for video communications provider TokBox in 2007, before joining Facebook a year later.
After four years at Facebook he was handed a leading role at Design Director to oversee the company’s mobile development, before he was moved into the Product Management Director role eight months later. In this role, he became the head of the News Feed and Interfaces departments, and a valued part of Zuckerberg’s leadership team.
He was named as a company Vice President in 2016, paving the way for him to eventually move into one of Facebook’s top positions.
In May this year, he was announced as Instagram’s new Head of Product, a decision that is, in part, thought to have led to the exit of Systrom and Krieger.
“When Chris [Cox, Facebook’s Chief Product Officer] started taking initiative and with Adam as more of the old-school in-crowd of Facebook, it was clear that it wasn’t going to be pleasant,” a company insider reportedly told TechCrunch.
However, Mosseri is thought to be well liked around the Instagram camp, due to the fact that he is far more present than other members of Facebook’s executive team.
With a background in product design, Mosseri is viewed as a strong replacement to the departing Systrom.
What now for Instagram?
Mosseri will take over at Instagram immediately, a company spokesperson has confirmed.
As Head of Instagram, Mosseri is likely to offer far less resistance to Zuckerberg’s push to bring Facebook’s standalone apps closer together with the social media platform. With younger users increasingly ditching Facebook, Instagram’s more youthful audience could offer a potential solution.
Despite his high standing in the Facebook pyramid, Systrom and Krieger seem happy with the appointment of Mosseri.
“We are thrilled to hand over the reins to a product leader with a strong design background and a focus on craft and simplicity – as well as a deep understanding of the importance of community,” the pair said in a joint statement.
“To us, the most important thing is keeping our community – all of you – front and centre in all that Instagram does. We believe that Adam will hold true to these values,”
Adam Mosseri’s career history
| Creative Director – Blank Mosseri December 2002 – July 2007 |
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| Product Designer and UI Engineer – TokBox July 2007 – June 2008 |
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| Product Designer – Facebook June 2008 – March 2009 |
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| Product Design Manager – Facebook March 2009 – February 2012 |
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| Design Director for Mobile – Facebook February 2012 – September 2012 |
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| Product Management Director – Facebook August 2012 – March 2016 |
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| Vice President of Product Management – Facebook March 2016 – May 2018 |
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| Head of Product – Instagram May 2018 – October 2018 |
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| Head of Instagram – Facebook October 2018 – Present |
