Chenault Leaves Facebook Board After Disagreements With Zuckerberg -- Update
March 13 2020 - 9:00PM
Dow Jones News
By Jeff Horwitz and Deepa Seetharaman
Kenneth Chenault will be leaving Facebook Inc.'s board of
directors following disagreements with Mark Zuckerberg over the
company's governance and political policies, according to people
familiar with the matter.
The announcement that Mr. Chenault won't run for another term on
Facebook's board, made after markets closed Friday, adds to
significant turnover among the tech giant's directors. In the last
year, the company has announced the departure of four independent
directors -- former White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles,
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, former Genentech executive Susan
Desmond-Hellmann and now Mr. Chenault -- replacing them in some
instances with people who have preexisting social or business
relationships with Mr. Zuckerberg.
Mr. Chenault and other independent board members have in recent
months clashed with management over both political advertising and
Facebook's policies related to discourse on its platform, said the
people familiar with the matter.
Facebook last year said it wouldn't fact-check political ads, a
decision that is at odds with the policies of other tech giants but
one Mr. Zuckerberg has defended as consistent with the company's
commitment to free speech. He has also said he doesn't believe a
private company should make decisions about what qualifies as
acceptable political messaging.
That position has drawn criticism from a number of quarters,
including many Democratic lawmakers, who believe Facebook should do
more to crack down on misinformation and toxic behaviors
online.
Mr. Chenault, the chairman of venture-capital firm General
Catalyst and a former chief executive of American Express Co.,
joined Facebook in January in 2018 as an independent director. With
Facebook facing concerns about disinformation on its platform and
its handling of user data, Mr. Chenault was viewed as a steady
hand.
"He has unique expertise in areas I believe Facebook needs to
learn and improve -- customer service, direct commerce and building
a trusted brand," Mr. Zuckerberg said at the time.
But Mr. Chenault grew frustrated that the CEO wasn't taking his
advice, according to a person familiar with the matter. Along with
some of the other independent board members, Mr. Chenault pushed
the company to do more regarding its role in elections. That
position wasn't universally held among the independent board
members: Venture capitalist Peter Thiel, who has a long personal
history with Mr. Zuckerberg, has largely urged the company to stay
the course and ignore public criticism.
"That was rather short-lived," said Jonas Kron, the director of
Trillium Asset Management, referring to Mr. Chenault's tenure on
the Facebook board. Trillium has pushed Facebook to split its chief
executive and board chairman roles and has advocated for the
company to name a new lead independent director, a position left
vacant since the departure of Ms. Desmond-Hellmann last year.
Among the recent additions to Facebook's board was Dropbox Inc.
Chief Executive Drew Houston, a friend of Mr. Zuckerberg's who has
appeared with him at social events.
In a statement, Mr. Chenault said he was stepping down to take a
"once in a lifetime" opportunity to join the board of Berkshire
Hathaway Inc.
"During the time I served on the board, the company made
progress in dealing with new challenges and continued to expand its
reach and to grow the business," he said. "I wish Mark, the
directors, and the management team all the best as they lead the
company going forward."
In response to a query about board disagreements and Mr.
Chenault's departure, a spokeswoman for General Catalyst referred
the Journal to Facebook's statement.
"Ken's reasons for stepping down have been very consistent both
publicly and privately," she said.
Mr. Zuckerberg thanked Mr. Chenault for his contribution to the
company. "It's been an honor to have a leader of Ken's caliber and
experience on our board and we learned a lot from him," he
said.
Write to Jeff Horwitz at Jeff.Horwitz@wsj.com and Deepa
Seetharaman at Deepa.Seetharaman@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 13, 2020 20:45 ET (00:45 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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