The Kevin Systrom net worth is higher than most, but did the entrepreneur sell photo-sharing app Instagram too soon?
Instagram joined a growing list of Facebook purchases in 2012. The social media giants paid out $1 billion to buy the photo-sharing mobile app, which saw Instagram founder Kevin Systrom become an instant multi-millionaire.
Systrom’s 40% share in the company earned him $400 million. Yet, the tech whiz decided to take the majority of his cut in Facebook shares, which has seen his fortune increase.
The deal was the largest in Facebook’s history at the time. Given that Instagram made no money, the deal was a risk. Yet, under Facebook’s guidance it has grown into one of the biggest social networks around, with over 700 million active users and an estimated value of $50 billion.
Many have questioned whether Systrom sold his creation too soon. Yet, with a decent sum of money in the bank, the entrepreneur stands by his choice.
Kevin Systrom net worth: Who is the Instagram founder and what is he worth?
Kevin Systrom was interested in computers and programming from a young age. During his teen years, he would code programs to entertain and annoy his friends via AOL messenger.
During his time at Stanford, Systrom interned at tech startup Odeo, before joining Google’s marketing team following his graduation. However, his attention soon turned back to programming.
Systrom eventually left the search giants and started working on his own project, Burbn. The app combined location sharing with photography. After deciding to strip back the app’s features, Burbn became Instagram in 2010.
Despite selling Instagram two years later, Systrom is still the CEO of Instagram and has helped to take the app to the next level. The app is now the third most popular social network and makes hundreds of millions in revenue.
While Systrom’s app failed to earn him the same level of wealth as Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg or Snapchat’s Evan Spiegel, he has reached billionaire status since parting ways with his creation.
Facebook’s market cap stood at around $100 billion back in 2012, but that has since tripled. As a result, the Kevin Systrom net worth has also increased. As things stand, Systrom is currently worth $1.3 billion.
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