News > Zuckerberg bought Instagram as it was a ‘threat’ to Facebook

Zuckerberg bought Instagram as it was a ‘threat’ to Facebook

The US House antitrust subcommittee has made public the email exchanges between Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and former chief financial officer David Ebersman, revealing that the company wanted to buy Instagram to avoid competition.

Facebook, by its own admission, saw Instagram as a threat that could potentially siphon business away from Facebook. So rather than compete with it, Facebook bought it. This is exactly the type of anti-competitive acquisition the antitrust laws were designed to prevent.