According to a post published by the New York Times, a source revealed that before Instagram was recently bought by Facebook for $1 billion, Twitter was also interested in acquiring the photo sharing service.
According to sources familiar with the deal, in the months before the Facebook deal was secured, Twitter co-founder and Instagram investor Jack Dorsey had plans to buy the company. However, Dorsey clearly failed.
The New York Times writes that “Mr. Systrom may have lost one connection in the deal: Mr. Dorsey of Twitter. His company, according to several people briefed on the matter, had expressed interest in buying Instagram in recent months. Mr. Dorsey once used Instagram daily to send photos to Twitter, but he has not been back since the deal was announced, perhaps a sign that he is not happy to see it in the hands of a competitor. A Twitter spokeswoman declined to comment.”
This discovery could also shed some light on some of the reasons why the social network bought the service that suggest that if it had not done so, it could empower other networks like Twitter and threaten the strength and growth of Facebook. In addition, this information may also provide some insight into the question of why Facebook paid such a massive amount for Instagram as interest shown by Twitter could have pushed the purchase price up.
While a triumphant Mark Zuckerberg wrote on his personal Facebook page that the completion of the deal was an “œimportant milestone“ for the company, as it has been eager to get a stronger foothold in mobile apps, Facebook has not yet officially revealed any other reasons for it buying the service.
Despite losing out to Facebook in the purchase, Dorsey joins Instagram’s nine employees and 12 investors in cashing in on the deal, who will see a significant return from the $1 billion acquisition, as a result of his earlier investment in the company.
As part of the deal with Facebook, Instagram will retain the ability for users to post and share pictures to other networks, like Twitter as well as keep followers and following lists separate between networks.
Instagram, previously an exclusive app for iPhone, recently launched on Android devices to spread its already large user base and reach even further generating more than 1 million downloads in the first 24 hours.
Source: The Next Web
