Instagram's founder on whether he'd sell to Facebook again: 'When someone comes and offers you a billion dollars for 11 people, what do you say?'

Former Instagram chief Kevin Systrom.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

• Kevin Systrom cofounded Instagram in 2010, and the company was acquired by Facebook for$1 billion in 2012.
• Systrom and cofounder Mike Krieger left the company in 2018 reportedly due to "tensions" with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
• When asked on Wednesday if he would sell again, Systrom referenced the unprecedented amount Facebook paid for the company.
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If Kevin Systrom could do it all over again, he would probably still sell Instagram to Facebook.

The Instagram cofounder and former CEO made an appearance at The New York Times DealBook conference on Wednesday, where he was asked whether he'd go through with the acquisition again.

According to NBC News reporter Dylan Byers, it would probably be a no-brainer.

"When someone comes and offers you a billion dollars for 11 people, what do you say?" Systrom responded.

Systrom left Instagram in 2018, six years after it was bought by Facebook for $1 billion. Systrom and cofounder Mike Krieger reportedly decided to leave over "growing tensions with Mark Zuckerberg." Last October, Systrom said that he "has a few more Instagrams, time-wise, in me."

Before leaving the company in September 2018, Systrom stopped posting on the platform. His last post was on May 20, 2018.

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