Instagram appoints Facebook veteran as new CEO

SAN FRANCISCO - US photo-sharing site Instagram has named Facebook veteran designer Adam Mosseri as its new CEO to fill the vacancy left by a surprise announcement of Instagram's two co-founders who are leaving the company, the social media network said Monday.

Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, who resigned abruptly last week as the firm's CEO and CTO, respectively, said Monday that they are pleased to announce Adam Mosseri, a long-time Facebook veteran and Instagram vice president of Product, took over the reigns of the photo-sharing site starting on Oct 1.

The two co-founders said that despite their announced departure, they hope Instagram will continue to keep its community and customers "front and center" in all that it does, and believe that "Adam will hold true to these values and that Instagram will continue to thrive."

Mosseri joined Facebook as a designer in 2008 and worked on its mobile product and news feed before moving over to Instagram. He became vice president of product at Instagram in May 2018.

Systrom and Krieger described Adam as 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.

While leading Instagram as the new leader, Adam will oversee all functions of the business and will recruit a new executive team including a head of engineering, head of product and head of operations, said the two co-founders of Instagram.