If there’s ever been a good investment, Instagram is it.
Instagram would be worth more than $100 billion if it were its own company and not a Facebook division, according to Bloomberg. The valuation is based on an analysis Bloomberg Intelligence conducted. If true, Instagram’s valuation would be 100 times greater than the $1 billion Facebook paid for the photo-sharing service in 2012.
When Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012, the move was somewhat controversial. Instagram was growing, but there wasn’t necessarily a consensus that it could continue at such a rapid clip. And perhaps most importantly to investors, it wasn’t clear how easily Facebook could earn a healthy return on the investment.
Now years later, that’s all become clear. Instagram now has more than 1 billion users and could reach more than 2 billion users in the next five years, according to Bloomberg’s research. It’s also growing its userbase in the U.S., unlike Facebook. And in the next year, according to researcher eMarketer, Instagram’s revenue could account for 16% of Facebook’s total revenue. Last year, Instagram accounted for a little over 10% of Facebook’s revenue.
Looking ahead, Facebook apparently believes that Instagram could play a larger role in online video. The company last week launched IGTV, a new video service that will allow creators to share additional content on the service.