Mike Krieger
Michel Krieger was born on the 4th of March 1986 in São Paulo, Brazil. He moved to California in 2004 to attend Stanford University. There he majored in symbolic systems and met Kevin Systrom. They would later co-found Instagram in 2010. The early days involved building a check-in app before switching focus to pictures. Most engineering work fell solely on Krieger during that period.
Instagram grew from a few million users to one billion monthly active users under Krieger's leadership as chief technology officer. He managed this expansion until 2018. One story from those early days involves an email about the site going down at 3:30 in the morning. Krieger recalled reviving the service while in a completely drunken state after pressing up on his terminal. This struggle defined the chaotic environment of the startup phase.
Krieger resigned from Instagram on the 24th of September 2018, leaving the company within weeks. He teamed up with Systrom again on the 18th of April 2020, to launch Rt.live. This product tracked how fast COVID-19 spread across US states. They launched Artifact, an AI-powered news app, on the 31st of January 2023. The pair announced the shutdown of Artifact in January 2024.
On the 15th of May 2024, Krieger joined Anthropic as its chief product officer. He later joined the board of Figma in July 2025. In January 2026, he moved to work within Anthropic's Labs team. These roles mark his transition into new phases of technology leadership following his departure from social media giants.
In April 2015, Krieger partnered with charity evaluator GiveWell. He committed US$750,000 over two years to support operations. Ninety percent of these funds went to grants identified through the Open Philanthropy Project process. In 2021, he helped fund the opening of the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco in Dogpatch alongside other donors like Pamela and David Hornik.
Continue Browsing
Common questions
When was Michel Krieger born and where?
Michel Krieger was born on the 4th of March 1986 in São Paulo, Brazil. He moved to California in 2004 to attend Stanford University.
What role did Mike Krieger hold at Instagram and until when?
Mike Krieger served as chief technology officer at Instagram from its founding in 2010 until he resigned on the 24th of September 2018. During this period, most engineering work fell solely on him while managing growth to one billion monthly active users.
Who did Mike Krieger partner with to launch Rt.live and Artifact?
Mike Krieger teamed up with Kevin Systrom again on the 18th of April 2020 to launch Rt.live. They later launched Artifact, an AI-powered news app, on the 31st of January 2023 before announcing its shutdown in January 2024.
What positions has Mike Krieger held since leaving social media giants?
On the 15th of May 2024, Krieger joined Anthropic as its chief product officer. He later joined the board of Figma in July 2025 and moved to work within Anthropic's Labs team in January 2026.
How much money did Mike Krieger commit to GiveWell and where did it go?
In April 2015, Krieger partnered with charity evaluator GiveWell and committed US$750,000 over two years to support operations. Ninety percent of these funds went to grants identified through the Open Philanthropy Project process.