Zuckerberg Once Considered Spinning Off Instagram, Now FTC Might Do It For Him
Summary: Mark Zuckerberg once suggested spinning off Instagram to protect Facebook from losing users. The irony is that now the FTC might force Meta to do exactly that. Internal emails show he feared Instagram’s success would cannibalize Facebook, a concern now central to the government’s antitrust case.
In a 2018 email, Mark Zuckerberg admitted something no one expected: that acquiring Instagram might have been a mistake. It wasn’t that Instagram was doing badly. It was the opposite. Instagram was doing too well, to the point that Zuckerberg was worried that Instagram was eating Facebook’s lunch. The CEO warned of potential “network collapse” and even floated the idea of spinning it off entirely.
Fast forward to 2025, and Meta is now facing an antitrust lawsuit that could force that exact outcome.
Zuckerberg was initially worried about Instagram
According to Zuckerberg’s email, Instagram was growing too fast. Internal data showed that Facebook usage dropped significantly once users joined Instagram. “This raises the issue that our models for the future may be wrong. We currently expect both Facebook and Instagram to be able to grow, but it seems likely to be the case that if we promote Instagram to be around the same size as Facebook, that will have significant negative effects on Facebook that we are not currently modeling.”
One of Zuckerberg’s solutions was to promote Instagram less, merge the app ecosystems, and put “Facebook” branding on everything. “When you open those apps, it would say ‘Instagram by Facebook’ and ‘WhatsApp by Facebook.’ We may even need to put Facebook branding in the chrome of those apps where the app names and logos are today to cement this relationship in people’s minds.”
The company eventually did that, after it became Meta, where you can see Meta’s logo slapped across its various apps and services.
He even considered spinning Instagram out as a separate company. Ironically, that’s the very outcome the FTC is pushing for in court today.
The ongoing antitrust lawsuit
Meta is currently facing an antitrust lawsuit brought on by the FTC. The FTC is revisiting Meta’s past acquisitions, such as WhatsApp and Instagram. The regulatory body claims that Meta acquired them as a way to kill off the competition. Meta disagrees.
It remains to be seen what will become of all this. However, the trial did unearth some emails and communications between Meta’s executives. This includes some early insights on what Zuckerberg thought of Instagram, as well as some pretty wild ideas that the CEO had behind the scenes.
