Mark Zuckerberg suggested spinning off Instagram as a separate company around 2018, citing the potential for increased performance after break-up.
Zuckerberg’s internal memo was displayed in court during his testimony in an FTC anti-monopoly case against Meta.
Meta acquired Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014, with Zuckerberg sensing a “non-trivial chance” of forced spin-offs due to shifting politics.
The CEO warned his executives that the company’s work on building a family of apps might be lost if they were broken up.
Zuckerberg’s comments come as tech companies face increasing calls for break-ups, with the next democratic president potentially leading to regulatory changes.
About a year before the Federal Trade Commission first opened its antitrust investigation into Meta’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, CEO Mark Zuckerberg internally suggested “the extreme step of spinning Instagram out as a separate company.”
In a 2018 email to his executives, Zuckerberg wrote that, ​​”while most companies resist break-ups, the corporate history is that most companies actually perform better after they’ve been split up.” The memo was displayed in court on Tuesday as he testified in the FTC’s anti-monopoly case, where Meta is fighting a government lawsuit that could lead to it being broken up.
Meta spent billions acquiring Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014. But by 2018, Zuckerberg sensed that shifting politics could lead to, as he wrote in the memo, “a non-trivial chance we will be forced to spin out Instagram and perhaps WhatsApp in the next 5-10 years.” He warned his exec team that, “We should keep in mind that there’s a real chance that all our work to build a family of apps may be something we don’t get to keep.”
“It’s not too hard to imagine the calls increasing to break up the tech companies, and the next democratic presid …
Q. When did Mark Zuckerberg suggest spinning off Instagram?
A. A year before the Federal Trade Commission first opened its antitrust investigation into Meta’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.
Q. What was the reason for Mark Zuckerberg’s suggestion to spin off Instagram?
A. He believed that there was a “non-trivial chance” that he would be forced to spin out Instagram and perhaps WhatsApp in the next 5-10 years due to shifting politics.
Q. When did Meta acquire Instagram and WhatsApp?
A. Meta acquired Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014.
Q. What was Mark Zuckerberg’s warning to his executives about spinning off Instagram?
A. He warned them that if they were forced to spin out Instagram, they might not get to keep all their work on building a family of apps.
Q. Why did Mark Zuckerberg think it would be beneficial for companies to be broken up?
A. According to Zuckerberg, most companies perform better after being split up.
Q. What was the context in which Mark Zuckerberg made this suggestion?
A. He made this suggestion in an email to his executives in 2018, as part of a larger antitrust investigation by the Federal Trade Commission.
Q. How did Meta’s acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp impact its business?
A. The article does not provide specific details on how Meta’s acquisition impacted its business, but it mentions that Zuckerberg sensed a “non-trivial chance” that he would be forced to spin out Instagram and perhaps WhatsApp in the next 5-10 years.
Q. What is the potential outcome of the FTC’s lawsuit against Meta?
A. The article does not provide specific details on the potential outcome, but it mentions that Meta is fighting a government lawsuit that could lead to it being broken up.
Q. Why did Mark Zuckerberg think he might be forced to spin out Instagram and WhatsApp?
A. He believed that shifting politics could lead to increased calls for breaking up tech companies like his own.
Q. What was the significance of the memo in which Mark Zuckerberg made this suggestion?
A. The memo was displayed in court as part of the FTC’s anti-monopoly case, where Meta is fighting a government lawsuit that could lead to it being broken up.
