Facebook Drops $1 Billion In Cash, Stock Buying Instagram

With yet another popular media-sharing platform on board, Facebook's omnipresence and horizontal integration just keeps growing longer.

The Mark Zuckerberg-helmed social media giant laid out $1 billion in combined cash and stock to purchase the massively popular photo-sharing platform Instagram, as The Los Angeles Times reported Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced Monday through a post on his own flagship platform.

The reaction? Unanimous: 10,000 "likes" within less than an afternoon. Zuckerberg assured the Instagram faithful that despite Facebook's official ownership, the mobile photo-sharing application would stand upon its own two feet.

"We believe these are different experiences that complement each other," Zuckerberg wrote. "But in order to do this well, we need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram's strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook."

Prior to Instagram, Facebook's arguably most successful integration with a media-sharing application was its partnership with the Spotify music-streaming service as a platform accessible only via Facebook accounts. Though they've never (yet) come to fruition, previously arrangements that didn't involve ownership swaps have been discussed with the likes of Apple's iTunes and streaming video giant Netflix. Prior to the sale, Instagram had already become one of the most popular platforms for sharing photos via Twitter.

Despite those attempted negotiations, Zuckerberg claims the Instagram acquisition marks Facebook's last of that kind.

"It's the first time we've ever acquired a product and company with so many users," Zuckerberg explained. "We don't plan on doing may more of these, if any at all. But providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together."

With former Facebook executive Matt Cohler as an investor via Benchmark Capital and a previous Facebook purchase offer already once declined, Instagram had reportedly been close to a new funding round bringing the company's value near $500 million. The deal will reportedly close later during the second fiscal quarter.