Kevin Systrom

Benjamin Wachenje

Title: Co-founder and CEO, Instagram, now owned by Facebook

Born: December 30, 1983, Holliston, Massachusetts

Education: BS in management science and engineering, Stanford University

Early Marker: Spent two years after college at Google, working on Gmail and Google Reader and in corporate development.

Big Idea: Founded photo-sharing app Instagram, which sold to Facebook in 2012 for $715 million. Continues to run the company independently of Facebook and sees a relationship with its owner similar to YouTube's with its parent, Google.

Wave of the Future: Social media, visual Web, App-economy, M-economy

Latest Special Reports

  • CNBC Changemakers

    CNBC Changemakers: Women Transforming Business is an annual list spotlighting women whose accomplishments have left an indelible mark on the business world.

  • Geoff Cutmore, Steve Sedgwick and Karen Tso lead you into the open of the European markets.

  • The Just 100 is an annual ranking of America’s largest publicly traded companies on issues that define 'just' business behavior and reflect the priorities of the American public, produced in partnership with research nonprofit Just Capital.

CNBC25: Rebels, Icons and Leaders