Mike Krieger
Born
Michel Krieger

(1986-03-04) March 4, 1986 (age 38)
São Paulo, Brazil
EducationStanford University (BS, MS)
Known forCo-Founder of Instagram
Spouse
Kaitlyn Trigger
​
(m. 2015)​

Michel Krieger (born March 4, 1986) is a Brazilian entrepreneur and software engineer who co-founded Instagram along with Kevin Systrom, and served as its CTO. Instagram expanded from a few million users to 1 billion monthly active users while Krieger served as CTO.[1]

On September 24, 2018, it was announced that Krieger and Systrom were resigning from Instagram.[2][3]

Life and career

Krieger was born in São Paulo, Brazil, and moved to California in 2004 to attend Stanford University.[4] At Stanford, where he studied symbolic systems, he met Kevin Systrom, and the two co-founded Instagram in 2010.[5][6] Krieger and Systrom had the idea of building a check-in app, before they made it exclusive to pictures. During the early days, most of the engineering and user experiences were developed solely by Krieger. One of the stories related to Instagram’s early days that Krieger recalled is:

One time I woke up and there was an email saying that the site went down, and I was like, who fixed it? Shane, did you fix it? Kev, did you fix it? No. And eventually on the terminal, you press up and you get to see what was the last thing you typed. So, apparently, at 3:30 in the morning I somehow managed to, in a completely drunken state, revive Instagram. That’s how much we were struggling in those days.[7]

After Instagram was acquired by Facebook, Krieger was committed to building and growing Instagram independently.[8][9]

On April 18, 2020, Krieger teamed up with Systrom again to launch Rt.live, their first product together since leaving Facebook. Rt.live was an up-to-date tracker of how fast COVID-19 is spreading in each US state.[10]

On January 31, 2023, Krieger and Systrom launched Artifact, an AI-powered news app, on the App Store and Google Play.[11][12][13]

Philanthropy

In April 2015, Krieger announced a partnership with charity evaluator GiveWell, committing US$750,000 over the next two years. The funds are to support operations, with 90% allocated to grants identified and recommended through the Open Philanthropy Project process.[14]

In 2021, the Krieger's helped fund the opening of the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco (ICA SF) in Dogpatch, alongside funds from Pamela and David Hornik; and Deborah and Andy Rappaport.[15][16][17]

Personal life

Krieger married Kaitlyn Trigger in 2015.[18][19]

References

  1. ^ "Instagram hits 1 billion monthly users, up from 800M in September". TechCrunch. June 20, 2018. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  2. ^ Newton, Casey (October 15, 2018). "Kevin Systrom on quitting Instagram: 'No one ever leaves a job because everything's awesome'". The Verge. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  3. ^ Newton, Casey (April 17, 2019). "We finally know why the Instagram founders really quit". The Verge. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  4. ^ Joe Garofoli (January 24, 2012). "Steve Jobs' widow, Instagram founder sitting with Michelle Obama at State of the Union". SFGate.com.
  5. ^ Christine Longorio (April 9, 2012). "Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, Founders of Instagram". Inc. magazine.
  6. ^ Somini Sengupta, Nicole Perlroth and Jenna Wortham (April 13, 2012). "Behind Instagram's Success, Networking the Old Way". New York Times.
  7. ^ Keynote: Instagram Founders Kevin Systrom & Mike Krieger | SXSW 2019, retrieved October 25, 2019
  8. ^ "Mike Krieger on Instagram: "I love the story behind Donuts Damari (@donutsdamari). The founders, Carolina and Mariana, started their company a year ago, and deliver…"". Instagram. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  9. ^ "Mike Krieger on Instagram: "Today, Instagram announced a set of new products at the #f82018 conference, including integrations with other apps like @spotify, a new…"". Instagram. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  10. ^ "Instagram founders launch COVID-19 spread tracker Rt.live". TechCrunch. April 18, 2020. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  11. ^ Team, Artifact (February 23, 2023). "Artifact: Now Open to Everyone". Artifact News. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
  12. ^ Peters, Jay (February 22, 2023). "Artifact, the AI-powered news app from Instagram's co-founders, is now open to all". The Verge. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
  13. ^ "Instagram Co-Founders Introduce Artifact, an AI-Powered News App". CNET. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
  14. ^ Karnofsky, Holden (April 23, 2015). "Co-funding Partnership with Kaitlyn Trigger and Mike Krieger". GiveWell.
  15. ^ "Native American artist Jeffrey Gibson is reuniting land, people and song". Financial Times. October 25, 2022. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  16. ^ Bravo, Tony (July 19, 2022). "Exclusive: Bay Area couple gifts $1 million to new Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco". Datebook, The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  17. ^ "San Francisco will greet a new Institute of Contemporary Art". The Art Newspaper - International art news and events. September 8, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  18. ^ "Kaitlyn Trigger: A Nerd After Our Own Hearts". W Magazine. August 11, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  19. ^ Popescu, Adam (March 16, 2017). "A Couple's Secrets, Not Found on Instagram". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 27, 2023.

External links

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