Testimony that Instagram was ‘better’ seems to bolster allegations Meta used ‘buy or bury’ tactic to snap up rivals

Meta’s chief executive Mark Zuckerberg considered spinning off Instagram in 2018 in anticipation of a potential antitrust suit, documents unveiled at a trial in Washington showed on Tuesday.

​​“While most companies resist break-ups, the corporate history is that most companies actually perform better after they’ve been split up,” he wrote in an email at the time. He said there was a “there is a non-trivial chance” his company would be forced to spin Instagram and WhatsApp out anyway.

Zuckerberg made another key concession during the US trial on Tuesday, saying he bought Instagram because it had a “better” camera than the one Facebook was trying to build for its flagship app at the time. In the email, he said Instagram was a “rapidly growing, threatening, network”.

  • primemagnus@lemmy.caEnglish
    12·
    2 days ago

    While most companies resist break-ups, the corporate history is that most companies actually perform better after they’ve been split up

    That’s a stat he made up in his head btw. Completely baseless claim.

    • nave@lemmy.caEnglish
      51·
      2 days ago

      Actually, he is correct. The Ma Bell breakup in the 80s is a good example of this. The newer, smaller companies grew much faster than the original.

      • MrAlternateTape@lemm.eeEnglish
        1·
        2 days ago

        It actually makes sense. I’ve seen big and small companies. Small companies are focused, flexible and people usually have a connection with the company.

        At bigger companies, everything goes slow. And nobody gives a shot about anything. They do what they need to do in order to get paid, but not a step more. Everything is slow because at least 2 layers of management need to sign off on decisions.