Mark Zuckerberg: the swan song

Mark Zuckerberg: The Swan Song

Founder and Chairman of the Board of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg also controls the majority of this company's shares. His power is therefore absolute and he can not be reprimanded, let alone dismissed, because any attempt in this direction on the part of his board of directors would be thwarted by the veto of the majority of the actions he enjoys which would immediately replace the disturbances by more accommodating administrators. This being said, it is highly unlikely that a rebellion or at least a possible challenge emanates from administrators paid 350'000 dollars a year, or even more if they are employees of the company. Zuckerberg is therefore all-powerful, much more than any other "CEO" of another listed company who would badume his responsibilities towards an independent board of directors who could also appoint leaders with no accounts

In his management of Facebook, Zuckerberg has focused entirely on making his advertising-based business model thrive, while overriding any other consideration. The results are, it is true, eloquent since Facebook controls (with Google) nearly 85% of all online advertising worldwide, with revenues up 50% in 2017 compared to the previous year. It is nevertheless this growth and this undivided power that gives Mark Zuckerberg all his dangerousness because Facebook is about to hold as much data as any other state in the world! Nobody flinched when Facebook made in 2012 the acquisition of Instagram (for $ 1 billion) or that of Whatsapp in 2014 (for $ 19 billion), while it was clear that such purchases were part of a global and thoughtful plan consisting in establishing a monopolistic power, while breaking the reins to any desire of competition.

Exit from the strict framework of his business model consisting in making his business prosper thanks to the advertising revenue, Mark Zuckerberg cumulates the errors of governance, which he has no difficulty in admitting himself. From Responsibility in the Cambridge Analytica Crisis to his gross negligence in the face of Russian interference in a number of Western elections that have used Facebook as a platform, including his lack of respect and respect for privacy and the confidential data uncovered and misused. available by its users. Zuckerberg is now losing ground on another ground – that of his shareholding – from which he lost much of his credibility. A recent Business Insider survey reveals that more than half of Facebook's shareholders (independent of Mark Zuckerberg) believe it should be sacked from the board, while 83% of them strongly advocate for changes deep structural changes that would abolish its absolute control on Facebook.

This challenge to its shareholding is to be taken very seriously, especially since the spectacular performance of the action Facebook on the stock market – launched at $ 38 in 2012 and now worth nearly 200 – was spectacular and the success of the company – which currently has 2 billion users – is undeniably global. Indeed, the shareholders of a corporation are generally pbadive and instead opt to sell their shares when they disagree with the conduct of the affairs of the Branch rather than ganging up against it or against its board of directors. Zuckerberg's disavowal of this magnitude on the part of its shareholders is therefore quite worrying for its future, as it is traditionally very difficult to federate more than 20 to 30% of the shareholders against a General Management of a listed company.

The time for major changes seems to have arrived for Facebook and for Mark Zuckerberg who, at a minimum, will soon see his powers widely questioned – and eventually duly subject to control – in the company he has created.

Article Mark Zuckerberg: the swan song appeared first on ..

Article written by Michel Santi, economist (http://www.michelsanti.fr)

<! – [19659010] (Gestionsuisse.com / 03.07.2018 14:31)
->