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Zuckerberg Made Instagram Deal Solo

Left Facebook board out.

Facebook’s purchase of Instagram for $1 billion took everyone by surprise—including Facebook's board. Mark Zuckerberg told his board the day before the deal was publicly announced that they were buying the photo-sharing app. He’d worked out the deal himself, in three days of negotiations with Instagram founder Kevin Systrom in Zuckerberg’s home. Sources tell The Wall Street Journal that Systrom initially asked for $2 billion, but Zuckerberg told him to imagine a day when Facebook was worth $200 billion or more, in which case 1 percent of the company would meet his price. Systrom was apparently convinced, and the deal was done. The board, a source says, “was told, not consulted.”