Cambridge Analytica Suspends CEO Alexander Nix After Video's Release -- 2nd Update
March 20 2018 - 4:09PM
Dow Jones News
By Rebecca Ballhaus
Cambridge Analytica is suspending its chief executive, Alexander
Nix, effective immediately, and is launching an independent
investigation to determine if the company engaged in any
wrongdoing, the company said.
The moves followed the release of a video Monday that depicted
Mr. Nix touting campaign tactics such as entrapping political
opponents with bribes and sex. The sales pitch was captured by
undercover journalists at British broadcaster Channel 4.
The company's independent investigation is aimed at determining
whether Mr. Nix or anyone in the company actually used any of the
tactics he mentioned in the video, according to a person familiar
with the matter.
The company's board suggested the suspension and Mr. Nix agreed
to it, the person said. Mr. Nix had faced internal pressure in
recent days to leave the company or take on a low-profile role with
few responsibilities, people familiar with the matter said. The
move was announced at a companywide meeting on Tuesday.
The video's release came amid an uproar over reports that the
company improperly used data from millions of Facebook Inc.
profiles without authorization.
The company confirmed Mr. Nix's suspension in a statement on
Tuesday. A spokesman said the comments by Mr. Nix in the Channel 4
video "do not represent the values or operations of the firm, and
his suspension reflects the seriousness with which we view this
violation."
Alexander Tayler, the company's chief data officer, will serve
as acting CEO. Julian Malins, a London-based lawyer, will lead the
investigation, the results of which the board will share publicly
"in due course," the company said.
Mr. Nix, who is based in London, was set to arrive in the U.S.
on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter.
People close to Cambridge Analytica have long complained about
what they describe as Mr. Nix's penchant for exaggerating the
company's capabilities and work, sometimes to its own detriment.
They said Mr. Nix has repeatedly mischaracterized the work the
company did for the Trump campaign, including promoting the idea
that Cambridge Analytica had provided psychographic analysis
related to the personalities and values of voters to the campaign.
The firm didn't provide such analysis to the Republican president's
campaign, the people said.
Facebook said Friday it had suspended the firm from its
platform, saying Cambridge Analytica had violated its policies
governing how third-party developers can deploy user data they
obtained from the company. The Federal Trade Commission said
Tuesday it is probing Facebook over Cambridge Analytica's use of
the platform's data.
A Cambridge Analytica spokesman said in a statement that its
political division didn't use the Facebook data in question. The
firm said it deleted all data it received after it became clear
that the way the information was obtained violated Facebook's
policies.
In the video released by Channel 4 on Monday, Mr. Nix described
the company's ability to hide its involvement in elections and
described what he said was previous tactics the company had
undertaken to damage the political opponents of their clients.
"We're used to operating through different vehicles, in the
shadows," Mr. Nix told the undercover reporter.
In a statement Monday, the company said the video was "edited
and scripted to grossly misrepresent" the conversations, and Mr.
Nix said he had apologized to staff and that he was merely "playing
along" with the conversation.
Write to Rebecca Ballhaus at Rebecca.Ballhaus@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 20, 2018 15:54 ET (19:54 GMT)
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