Did the controversies surrounding Facebook parent Meta get the better of Mark Zuckerberg?
The chief executive with the look of an eternal teenager at one time had given the impression he luxuriated in media exposure. At one point press reports speculated about his likely candidacy for the White House.
Now, he has had to respond regularly to the practices of his company, whose reputation has taken a big hit in recent years. Zuckerberg has had to explain himself to elected officials lawmakers several times.
At the same time, Facebook, now known as Meta Platforms (FB), once one of the hottest companies for young talent, has tumbled in the Glassdoor rankings of companies to work for.
The tech giant featured at No. 47 in Glassdoor's "Best Places to Work" rankings for 2022, a nosedive from No. 11 last year. Facebook took Glassdoor's top spot in 2018 but slipped in 2019 on fallout from the Cambridge Analytica data scandal over an alleged data breach and attempts to influence election outcomes.
After a weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter-earnings report, morale at headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., may be hurting; Bloomberg reports that the company is discussing ways to to retain staff. Meta's market capitalization has slumped. It stood at nearly $590 billion, a far cry from the $1 trillion threshold it hit in June of last year.
The Rise of Nick Clegg
To everyone's surprise Zuckerberg on Wednesday said he and his No. 2 executive, Sheryl Sandberg, were going to step back a bit. He will focus on products and new technologies, in particular the metaverse, of which he has been singing the praises since last October. Chief Operating Officer Sandberg will focus on "the success of our business," Zuckerberg said.
Nick Clegg, the former British deputy prime minister, now becomes the voice of Meta as president for global affairs. Clegg joined Facebook in October 2018 as vice president of global affairs and communications after almost two decades in British and European public life, according to his LinkedIn page.
"I want to share an update on our company leadership as we begin our next chapter to help build the metaverse," Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook on Wednesday. "The landscape around regulation for our industry is changing quickly. We need a senior leader at the level of myself (for our products) and Sheryl (for our business) who can lead and represent us for all of our policy issues globally."
Clegg will report directly to Zuckerberg and Sandberg, the CEO added.
"As Nick takes on this new leadership role, it will enable me to focus more of my energy on leading the company as we build new products for the future, and it will support Sheryl as she continues to focus on the success of our business," Zuckerberg elaborated.
He concluded that: "I can't think of anyone better placed to represent us and help shape the future of internet policy than Nick."
He has denied he has political ambitions, as Politico noted in 2017. But few expected the duo at the head of Meta-Facebook to become a trio.
What Does the Meta Transition Indicate?
The rise of Facebook had propelled Zuckerberg and Sandberg into the spotlight. Like Zuckerberg, Sandberg was speculated about in Democratic political circles as a possible running mate on a Democratic ticket for the White House.
"Does it also reflect that Sandberg's star has fallen? Two have become three at the top of Meta. And Clegg will now report to Zuckerberg directly as well as Sandberg," John Glancy, a journalist from The Sunday Times posted on Twitter.
But for others like this user on Twitter what matters is the fall of Facebook.
"Oooh, bad move...or a good one, if it ultimately takes FB down."
Clegg, a prominent and respected politician, was strongly making the case for Meta-Facebook. It was he, for example, who wrote the company Blog post to defend the decision to permanently ban former President Donald Trump from Facebook despite criticism from the company's Oversight Board.
"Given the gravity of the circumstances that led to Mr. Trump’s suspension, we believe his actions constituted a severe violation of our rules which merit the highest penalty available under the new enforcement protocols," Clegg wrote last June. "We are suspending his accounts for two years, effective from the date of the initial suspension on January 7 this year."
This transition also comes the day after other major announcements. Zuckerberg on Tuesday asked Facebook employees to call each other Metamates. He also changed the company motto to "Meta, Metamates, Me."
Meta is facing several puzzles that are far from solved: disinformation, privacy, content moderation woes, accusations of anticompetitive behavior, and its effects on foreign countries. Clegg has his hands full.
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