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Mark Zuckerberg continues his plans to integrate Facebook's trio of applications, even if it costs him a key member of his inner circle.
The general manager of Facebook wrote in an article published Thursday on his blog that two of the biggest leaders of the social network were leaving the company, less than a year after being promoted to their posts.
The resignations of Chris Cox, head of Facebook's products, and Chris Daniels, head of WhatsApp, were widely seen as the first signs of a brutal reaction against Zuckerberg's new vision, focused on the protection of privacy, for the largest social network in the world. more than 4 percent.
Mr. Cox, the "number three" in Facebook after Mr. Zuckerberg and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, was very much appreciated by the company. In 2005, he was one of the first software engineers. He played a decisive role in the creation of the company by contributing to the development of the news feature.
Mr. Daniels became vice president of WhatsApp last May, having held several roles within Facebook, ranging from business development to partnerships, since 2011.
High-profile departures come just a week after Zuckerberg used a 3,200-word blog to give Facebook's future a focus on privacy and user control.
As part of this change, the group plans to integrate Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook messaging services into an encrypted system, which means that only people sending and receiving messages will be able to view them.
The movement has divided badysts. Some say it is part of a push to find new sources of revenue at a time when sales growth is slowing in developed markets. But others see it as a more radical attempt to bring the three applications closer, with antitrust regulators threatening to separate them.
In his latest post on Thursday, announcing the departure of Mr. Cox and Mr. Daniels, Mr. Zuckerberg wrote: "This new vision is the beginning of a new chapter for us."
On Thursday, in his own Facebook post, Mr. Cox did not explicitly explain why he was leaving. But he said the move to a single encrypted messaging system was a "big project". [that] It will require enthusiastic leaders to see the new direction go.
A former Facebook executive described the decision as "principled departure" by Mr. Cox.
"It's way too soon after the last giant product [reorganisation] believe that it was a planned transition. . . This potentially means that Mark has not really thought about the privacy manifest, "said the person.
Others have pointed to the wide range of lawsuits and regulatory litigation that Facebook faces after the Cambridge Analytica scandal of last year. Jason Kint, president and CEO of Digital Content Next, a US-based professional badociation of online publishers, said: "its culture."
"There are many signs that [Chris Cox’s departure] It's not just a difference in product strategy, "he added.
The latest upheaval marks a hectic week for Facebook, during which it suffered the longest mbadive interruption in its applications and was accused by UK regulators of stifling competition. It also appeared that New York prosecutors had opened a criminal investigation into the social network following its historic partnerships in data sharing with other major technology companies.
Nevertheless, industry experts believe that this reshuffle is an indication that Zuckerberg is consolidating his power on all platforms and will persevere, even if it means losing trusted lieutenants.
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Zuckerberg said he was not immediately appointing someone to replace Cox, which means that those responsible for the company's main applications will now pay him directly.
Will Cathcart will be the new director of WhatsApp after previously leading the Facebook application, which will now be led by Fiji Simo. Javier Olivan, who led the application strategy jointly with Cox, has now been specifically named to identify how applications "should be more integrated".
Brian Wieser, President of GroupM's Business Intelligence, said: "There is a clear signal that [Mr Zuckerberg] always takes possession of the company. [This is] the centralization of the product people under Mark. "
Ben Horowitz, general partner of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz – Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Marc Andreessen, who serves on Facebook's board of directors – said on Twitter: "Love him or hate him," Mark said. Zuckerberg. . . he has the courage to do what he thinks is right in the face of extremely strong dissent. "
This approach has so far characterized Zuckerberg's leadership, which has already cost him a handful of senior executives.
The founders of Instagram, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, as well as those of WhatsApp, Jan Koum and Brian Acton, have left Facebook in the last 18 months, following clashes over the direction of apps and debates over how to monetize them.
When Facebook bought Instagram and WhatsApp in 2012 and 2014, respectively, this indicated that both apps would remain fairly independent of their parent company. However, according to people familiar with the situation, Zuckerberg would then have pressured companies to integrate Facebook itself.
Industry insiders warn that Zuckerberg's leadership strategy may backfire, especially after Cox's departure from the tight circle of the social network.
"[Mr] Cox was one of the few people to challenge Mark and build on big ideas, "said the former Facebook executive. "The remaining group is much more willing to do what Zuck thinks is right – even if he does not."
Additional report by Hannah Kuchler in San Francisco
Week turbulent Facebook
Friday, March 8
US Senator Elizabeth Warren pledges to dismantle the nation's largest technology companies, including Facebook, if she is elected president in 2020
Tuesday 12 March
A report commissioned by the British government indicates that Facebook and other tech giants are using their dominance over digital services to stifle competition and unfairly increase their profits
Wednesday, March 13
Facebook is experiencing the longest outage in its history, with some platform features, as well as Instagram and WhatsApp, being used by many users around the world. The services were restored Thursday, the company badigning a "server configuration change" to the disruption
The New York Times reports that federal prosecutors in New York are pursuing a criminal investigation into data transactions between Facebook and other major technology companies.
Thursday, March 14
Zuckerberg writes in a blog that Chris Cox, product manager at Facebook, is leaving the company to "do something else". He also announces the departure of Chris Daniels, manager of WhatsApp.
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