Meta’s Vice President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg said on Jan.2 that he is stepping down from his role at the social media giant after nearly seven years. He will be replaced by prominent Republican and longtime policy executive Joel Kaplan.
The announcement comes shortly before President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office.
As a new year begins, now is the “right time” to move on, he said.
During his time at the company, he led on key issues such as Facebook’s content policy, elections, and the establishment of an independent content oversight board.
Kaplan, his replacement, previously served as deputy chief of staff for policy under President George W. Bush.
He joined Facebook in 2011 as vice president of U.S. public policy, where he oversaw its relationships with policymakers at federal and state levels. He was later promoted to vice president of global public policy at Facebook.
Clegg praised Kaplan, whom he referred to as a good friend and close colleague in his statement.
“He will be able to build on what we have done together, and improve upon what I failed to get done,” Clegg said. “Joel is quite clearly the right person for the right job at the right time—ideally placed to shape the company’s strategy as societal and political expectations around technology continue to evolve.”
Clegg said he will spend a few months “handing over the reins” to Kaplan and representing Meta at international gatherings in the first quarter of this year before moving on to new adventures.
