Facebook on Saturday, October 20, announced that it was hiring former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Nick Clegg, to head its global affairs and communications team. Clegg, who held the position in the British parliament with former British PM David Cameron between 2010 and 2015, will replace Elliot Schrage, a Facebook veteran who held the position for nearly a decade.
Clegg will join Facebook on Monday and he would move from London to California with his family following the New Year.
“I’m excited to announce that Nick Clegg is joining Facebook as VP, Global Affairs and Communications… The challenges we face are serious and clear and now more than ever we need new perspectives to help us through this time of change…That’s what motivates our teams and from all my conversations with Nick, it’s clear that he believes in this as well. His experience and ability to work through complex issues will be invaluable in the years to come,” Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg wrote in a post welcoming Clegg.
Interestingly, Clegg’s appointment comes at a time when the company is battling a number of storms which includes its latest security breach, which affected 50 million users including Sandberg and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and the spread of fake news on WhatsApp, which has caused troubles for the company particularly in India and in Brazil.
“Throughout my public life I have relished grappling with difficult and controversial issues and seeking to communicate them to others. I hope to use some of those skills in my new role,” Clegg wrote in a public post on the platform.
As far as Schrage is concerned, he is not retiring from the social media giant yet. Schrage, who has helped the company surf through a number of controversial cases including the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which affected nearly 87 million, the Russian intervention in the US 2016 Presidential Elections, and in the UK Brexit vote, will stay on board as an adviser.
“Elliot has been a source of strength and wisdom and has guided us through some of the most important moments in our history. Elliot’s leadership, tenacity, and wise counsel ?- in good times and bad — has positioned Nick and Facebook for even greater future success and we are grateful he will continue to advise us,” Sandberg added.
