Meta Platforms owns Instagram, the photo-sharing service acquired for about US$1 billion in 2012.
Instagram was created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger and launched in October 2010. It began as a mobile application centered on square photographs, filters and social sharing. The service quickly gained users, particularly on Apple's iPhone.
Facebook announced its agreement to acquire Instagram in April 2012, and the transaction closed later that year. Instagram continued operating as a separate product rather than being folded into the Facebook brand. It later expanded into video, Stories, direct messaging and short-form video.
The corporate owner is now called Meta Platforms. A frequent mix-up is saying Facebook owns Instagram; that was correct for years before Facebook, Inc. changed its corporate name to Meta Platforms, Inc. in 2021.