In recent revelations during the Federal Trade Commission's antitrust trial against Meta, CEO Mark Zuckerberg disclosed that he considered the significant step of spinning off Instagram as a separate entity. In a 2018 email, he expressed, “while most companies resist break-ups, the corporate history is that most companies actually perform better after they’ve been split up.” This insight emerged as Zuckerberg testified about the FTC's accusations that Meta has illegally monopolized parts of the social media market through its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.

Zuckerberg's concerns about a possible breakup date back to 2018, when he warned his executives of a “non-trivial chance” that they might have to relinquish Instagram or WhatsApp in the coming years. He noted, “It’s not too hard to imagine the calls increasing to break up the tech companies,” hinting at potential political pressures. As the trial unfolds, Meta is adamantly defending its stance, arguing that the FTC's case is “at war with the facts and at war with the law.”

Zuckerberg concluded his 2018 memo with caution, stating, “I’m also not suggesting this is the likely outcome. But I don’t think it is quite as crazy as it may initially seem, either.” This ongoing battle highlights the complexities of big tech ownership and regulatory scrutiny.
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