Systrom, Instagram's chief executive, and Krieger, the chief technical officer, notified Instagram's leadership team and Facebook on Monday of their decision to leave, said people with direct knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly. "We're planning on taking some time off to explore our curiosity and creativity again," Systrom said in a statement on the company's website. 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, company co-founder and CEO, said in a statement. Facebook agreed to give Instagram autonomy as part of the acquisition deal but in May, Instagram’s VP of Product Kevin Weil was transferred to Facebook’s new blockchain team. In the same month Instagram reached 1 billion users, Bloomberg Intelligence valued the company at more than $100 billion.
Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger are expected to step down from the company.