Zuckerberg Defends His Billion-Dollar Instagram Splurge

Late yesterday Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg faced questions from potential investors in the first part of his pre-IPO whirlwind roadshow. At the New York meeting, Zuckerberg dealt with a lot of questions about his impulsive purchase of Instagram. The deal involved a huge billion-dollar payout for a company that was less than 500 days old and was carried out without board involvement--facts that unsettle investors who are looking for stable, responsible corporate governance. Zuckberg explained that Instagram had grown past a tipping point (which we can assume was the million-users-in-a-day growth after the Android app hit) and was being pursued by other parties like Twitter, necessitating fast negotiations. The young CEO also explained his position on entering China--a willingness to talk with Chinese officials, as the site is currently blocked.

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