The social media company that acquired Instagram for $1 billion in 2012 was Facebook.
Facebook announced the deal on April 9, 2012, soon after Instagram had expanded beyond its original iPhone audience and released an Android app. The proposed transaction was described as a combination of cash and Facebook stock, with Facebook saying Instagram would remain independently managed rather than immediately absorbed into the main Facebook product.
The transaction attracted attention because Instagram was a rapidly growing photo-sharing service with a small team and no established advertising business. Regulators reviewed the acquisition in both the United Kingdom and the United States before it closed on September 6, 2012. The final consideration was reported as $300 million in cash plus 23 million Facebook shares.
A modern naming wrinkle can cause confusion: Facebook, Inc. later changed its corporate name to Meta Platforms, Inc. in 2021. The buyer at the time of the acquisition was Facebook, so “Meta” is not the expected historical answer to this question. Instagram remains one of Meta’s major consumer platforms.