Thilina Kaluthotage | nuphoto | Getty Images
Meta According to an email released Tuesday in a courtroom in Washington, DC, the CEO considered spinning out Instagram in 2018 on concerns about rising threats to antitrust lawsuits against Facebook.
On the second day of Zuckerberg’s testimony in Meta’s antitrust trial with the Federal Trade Commission, the attorney representing the FTC introduced emails since May 2018. There, Zuckerberg appeared to be commenting on the possibility that in 2012 he would separate the photo-sharing app he purchased in 2012 for $1 billion.
“And I’m wondering whether spinning out Instagram is the only structure to achieve many important goals,” Zuckerberg wrote in an email. “As the appeal for big tech companies grows, there’s a small chance that they’ll be forced to spin out Instagram and WhatsApp in five to ten years anyway. This is another factor to consider.”
Facebook bought Instagram in 2012. The photo app had 13 employees, with Zuckerberg poised to open his company to the public. The Instagram purchase and the 2014 WhatsApp acquisition, the $19 billion acquisition, kicked off on Monday, is at the heart of a blockbuster anti-trust trial that could last weeks.
The FTC claims that Meta has a monopoly in the social networking market and that the company must not be able to complete these acquisitions. The agency is trying to give up the app from the meta as a relief.
Meta challenges the FTC allegations, claiming that regulators mischaracterize the competitive environment and failed to recognize many rivals like Tiktok. Apple’s It’s not just about iMessage and other apps like Snapchat. In the first half of the trial, the FTC also provided an October 2013 email. snap CEO Evan Spiegel has rejected a $6 billion offer to buy Snapchat.
Zuckerberg also said in a 2018 email that the company “if Instagram remains independent, it is likely that Twitter or Snapchat will not be nearly one billion in size, but will be the size of Snapchat, with maps of 300 million to 400 million today.” Map stands for monthly active people.
Watch: Mark Zuckerberg will be witness on the first day of his antitrust trial.
