Facebook parent Meta is replacing its president of worldwide affairs, Nick Clegg, with Joel Kaplan, the corporate's current political vice chairman and former Republican Party staffer.
The shakeup comes three weeks before President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration and is the newest sign of how tech corporations are positioning themselves for a brand new administration in Washington.
Clegg, a former British deputy prime minister, said he was stepping down and called the brand new yr the suitable time to maneuver on. He will probably be replaced by Kaplan, who will assume the title of Chief Global Affairs Officer.
Kaplan served as deputy White House chief of staff under former President George W. Bush and appeared on the New York Stock Exchange with Vice President-elect JD Vance and Trump in December. As a private friend, he also attended Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings in 2018, which caused controversy on the social media company.
“I look forward to spending a few months handing over the reins – and representing the company at a series of international meetings in the first quarter of this year,” Clegg wrote in a memo to employees he shared on Facebook on Thursday.
Clegg joined the corporate in 2018 after a profession in British politics with the Liberal Democrats, and he helped Meta withstand incredible scrutiny, particularly over the corporate's influence on elections and its efforts to create damaging to manage content.
Clegg also helped the corporate navigate the Cambridge Analytica scandal, by which Facebook shared user data with outside political consultants. He also represented the corporate in Washington and London, often on panels on artificial intelligence and at Congressional hearings.
“My time at the company coincided with a significant realignment of the relationship between 'Big Tech' and societal pressures, manifested in new laws, institutions and norms impacting the sector,” Clegg wrote.
In his memo, Clegg said Kevin Martin, a former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, would replace Kaplan as Meta's vice chairman for global policy. He mentioned that Kaplan will work closely with David Ginsburg, the corporate's vice chairman of worldwide communications and public affairs.
“Nick: I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for Meta and the world over the last seven years,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a press release. “They have…built a strong team to advance this work. I am pleased that Joel will be taking on this role next as he has extensive experience and insight into leading our policy work over many years.”
Semafor first reported the news.
REGARD: Meta: For this reason, Rosenblatt Securities has set an $811 price goal on the stock
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