Instagram co-founders are leaving the company

Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, the co-founders of Instagram, are leaving the company, saying they plan on "taking some time off to explore our curiosity and creativity again."

They founded the photo-sharing app in 2010 and sold it to Facebook for $1 billion in 2012. Systrom is the company's CEO and Krieger the chief technology officer, and in a blog post Monday night, Systrom said in order to build something new, they need to "step back, understand what inspires us, and match that with what the world needs."

People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that Systrom and Krieger were clashing with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg over the direction of Instagram, frustrated that he was spending more and more time in the day-to-day operations of the brand. In a statement, Zuckerberg called Systrom and Krieger "extraordinary product leaders" with "creative talents. I've learned a lot working with them for the past six years and have really enjoyed it."

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