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Documents Show Facebook Bought Instagram to Quash Competitor

  • Zuckerberg also says WhatsApp was a competitor ahead of buy
  • Nadler says antitrust law was meant to prevent these deals
Mark Zuckerberg speaks via videoconference during a House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C., on July 29. 

Mark Zuckerberg speaks via videoconference during a House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C., on July 29. 

Photographer: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Bloomberg

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Before Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg signed a deal to acquire Instagram, he proposed the idea to the photo-sharing startup’s co-founder Kevin Systrom, who was not interested. “Will he go into destroy mode if I say no?” Systrom asked a board member.

“Probably,” replied Matt Cohler, the venture capitalist and early Facebook employee. Then Cohler added that Facebook would likely go into destroy mode either way.