How Zuckerberg quietly struck the Instagram deal

According to a_ Wall Street Journal _ story published today (subscription only), CEO Mark Zuckerberg, kept Facebook’s board in the dark during the company’s acquisition of Instagram. The shocker in the story seems to be that Zuckerberg led and concluded the deal himself in just three days and the board did not vote on the deal. The report also states that Zuckerberg, told the board of his intention to buy the popular photo sharing app on 8 April, three days after opening negotiations with its founder Kevin Systrom. But the deal wasn’t all Zuckerberg’s doing. The report mentions that he did get help from Amin Zoufonoun, Facebook’s director of corporate development, to hammer out details later in the talks. The report suggests that Instagram found Kevin Systrom, was more comfortable because Zuckerberg approached him personally. It was reported that the photo apps founder was hoping for a $2 billion deal for the company. The meeting reportedly took place in Zuckerberg’s Palo Alto home Instagram, which recently launched its Android app, has crossed nearly 27 million downloads on Apple’s iOS. The Android app has crossed nearly 5 million downloads in less than 2 weeks. [caption id=“attachment_279932” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Instagram deal: Zuckerberg didn’t tell the board. Getty Images”] [/caption] Facebook is to offer its IPO  this May. Zuckerberg’s current handling of deals represents a very unorthodox mode of working, one that might not always work with investors. It can’t be overlooked that Facebook’s $1 billion acquisition of  Instagram is a smart move considering that sharing photos has become a major trend in the social networking field. The success of sites like Pinterest is a case in point, which is now the third most popular social network, ahead of both Google+ and Tumblr.  The acquisition is also expected to help Facebook expand mobile revenue. Facebook has been particularly good at generating commercial revenue through advertising, like google search has in the social media space unlike competitor Twitter. Watch Kevin Anderson dissect the Instagram acquisition here.