Facebook splits into three units, shuffles execs
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Facebook is reshuffling its organization and top product leadership, including new leaders for its Messenger, WhatsApp, and core Facebook apps, as Recode first reported and the company confirmed to Axios.
Why it matters: CEO Mark Zuckerberg has revamped his nearly 15-year-old company the way a software developer would refactor an overgrown codebase, looking for new efficiencies and room to grow in new areas — one of which, blockchain, is getting its own new unit.
The company is now organized into three divisions: Family of apps, new platforms and infrastructure, and central product services.
Major exec moves:
- Messenger chief (and Coinbase board member) David Marcus will head a new Blockchain division, with Instagram product chief Kevin Weil joining him. Stan Chudnovsky will take over Messenger.
- Internet.org chief Chris Daniels will take over WhatsApp.
- VP Will Cathcart will take over the main Facebook app, reporting to chief product officer Chris Cox. News Feed chief Adam Mosseri is heading over to Instagram to take Weil's VP of product job.
- Additionally, PR chief Caryn Marooney will now split her duties with Rachel Whetstone, who joined after leaving Uber. Whetstone will focus on corporate communications while Marooney will handle the product side.
Missing something? Indeed, no women were involved in this mega-reorg, save for Naomi Gleit, who keeps her current role as head of integrity, growth, and product management but moves to the new central product services unit.
- As Recode points out, the company does have high-ranking female execs, including COO Sheryl Sandberg; video chief Fidji Simo; Deb Liu, who heads marketplaces; and Julie Zhuo, who heads design. But it's still notable that the company didn't manage to add more women to the top ranks.
