Zuckerberg Has No Plans to Step Down as Facebook Chairman
Nov. 21, 2018Despitemounting pressure from investorsto step down as Facebook chairman as the social media firm faces intense scrutiny on data scandals, Mark Zuckerberg has said he has no plans to retire.
In an interview with CNN late on Tuesday, he said this was not the time for him to quit as Facebook shares ended at $132.43, down 40 percent from its peak in July.
“That’s not the plan. I’m not going to be doing this forever, but I’m not currently thinking that makes sense,” said the Facebook CEO.
The interview came after the New York Times reported howZuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg “ignored warning signs”of theCambridge Analyticascandal and hired a Republican-owned political consulting and PR firm to “dig up dirt” on competitors.
“I do run the company. I am responsible for everything that happens here. I don’t think this point was about a specific PR firm; it’s about how we act,” Zuckerberg said during the interview.
Facebook hired a firm called Definers Public Affairs to retaliate against or spread inflammatory information about its critics. Elliot Schrage, Facebook’s outgoing Head of Public Policy, has reportedly taken the blame for hiring the Definers.
According to a memo with TechCrunch, Schrage admitted having the company push negative narratives about competitors but denies asking or paying Definers to publish fake news. Facebook didn’t confirm the memo.
Last week, Facebook investors increased pressure on Zuckerberg to step down as Chairman. According to a report in The Guardian, Jonas Kron, Senior Vice President at Trillium Asset Management which owns a substantial stake in Facebook, “called on Zuckerberg to step down as board chairman in the wake of the report”.
“Facebook is behaving like it’s a special snowflake. It’s not. It is a company and companies need to have a separation of chair and CEO,” Kron was quoted as saying.
Another Facebook investor Natasha Lamb from Arjuna Capital said the combined role of chairman and chief executive means that Facebook can avoid properly fixing problems inside the company.
