I=6 Meta’s Head of Business AI, Clara Shih leaves the company to focus on family after losing his father
Clara Shih, who joined Meta in November 2024 as head of Business AI unit, is departing.
Shih said she is leaving the company to focus on her family after losing her father last month.
Naomi Gleit, who has been Meta’s Head of Product for over 20 years will take over Shih’s role.
Shih reported to Chief Revenue Officer, John Hegeman who is also departing.
Assessment
Shih seems genuine about why she’s leaving. Also, her division seems to have delivered during her short tenure as seen with the launch of AI agents. However, it cannot be ruled out that her departure may be part of the ongoing leadership changes as the company comes under pressure to deliver on its costly AI-strategy. Therefore, it’s crucial to monitor executive changes closely.
While Gleit has many years of experience in product division, Shih seemed more experienced when it comes to AI product monetization- having been CEO of AI at Salesforce.
I=6 Meta recruits Microsoft’s C.J. Mahoney as its Chief Legal Officer
Meta has recruited former Microsoft’s corporate vice president and general counsel, C.J. Mahoney as its Chief Legal Officer.
Mahoney has been with Microsoft for 5 years, starting as Deputy General Counsel before being promoted to VP.
Mahoney also previously served as deputy U.S. trade representative during President Donald Trump’s first stint in the White House.
At Microsoft, he reported to Brad Smith, the company’s vice chair, president and top executive on legal and political matters and who advised Zuckerberg during the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal.
He replaces Jennifer Newstead, who departed on December.
Assessment
He seems experienced. His past political experience should also help the company navigate political landscape as Big Tech get closer to Trump administration.
I=2 Meta Platforms hires Bill McGinley, a former DOGE lawyer and veteran Republican as its lobbyist
According to recent filings, Meta has hired Bill McGinley, a former DOGE lawyer and veteran Republican as its lobbyist.
The filings shows Meta paid McGinley $120,000 for lobbying on “issues related to technology companies and international trade negotiations and agreements”.
I=8 Meta appoints top deal-maker, Dina Powell McCormick as company’s first president
Meta appoints Dina Powell McCormick as its president and vice chairman.
Dina will be part of the management team, helping guide the company’s strategy and execution.
Dina has more than 16 years of experience cultivating relationships with sovereign wealth funds at Goldman Sachs and leaders around the world, having advised two U.S. presidents (Trump and Bush).
According to Axios, she will report to Mark Zuckerberg.
Meta shares recoup some of its pre-market losses following the announcement.
Based on testimonials from senior bank officials e.g. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman and IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, she seems like a great hire for Meta Platforms.
Oh wow the announcement reads like there might be even more capital raises and spending coming. It explicitly states
And, she will drive an effort to build new strategic capital partnerships and find innovative ways to expand our long-term investment capacity.
and Meta highlights its ambition
As we scale, the complexity of what we’rebuilding is changing. Meta is creating themassive physical and financial model thatwill power the next decade of computing —including data centers, energy systems,and global connectivity at an unprecedented scale.
What’s your interpretation? Are there any commentaries e.g. from analysts, on youtube (bloomberg, cnbc) etc? Do you think they change their trajectory again and spend even more than you anticipated or will it mostly stay in the same range and the hire only helps with executing against it?
Meta said in their last earnings call that it was going to increase those partnerships but the second statement you have linked raises their ambition. For now it’s hard for me to tell if capex will be higher than by estimate of $120 B and $140 B for 2026 and 2027 respectively, but I think the risk is high and growing.
I=3 Meta tweaks its performance program to put more emphasis on output as opposed to effort
“We’re evolving our performance program to simplify it and placing greater emphasis on rewarding outstanding performance,” a Meta spokesperson told Fortune. “While our employees have always been held to a high-performance, impact-based culture, this new direction allows for more frequent feedback and recognition in a more efficient way.”
I=3 Meta cuts equity awards for thousands of employees by 5%, following a 10% cut last year
Meta cuts equity awards for thousands of employees by 5%, following a 10% cut last year- Financial Times reported citing people familiar with the matter.
Meta’s share-based compensation last year was $20.4 billion, up from $16.7 billion in 2024 (page 7).
I=7 Mark Zuckerberg admitted Meta made mistakes in its AI restructuring and will likely make more, amidst declining employee morale
He reiterated that they don’t expect further layoffs this year but won’t overpromise.
“Given the complexity of these changes, we’ve made mistakes and will almost certainly make more,” he said. “I don’t want to overpromise because the world is changing in ways that are out of our control,” he added.
He said the 7,000 employees transferred to the newly created AI initiatives serve as a backup plan if they make mistakes in some places.
“By creating important new roles for people, this also allowed us to shrink the size of teams knowing that if we make mistakes in some places, then we could transfer some people back,” Zuckerberg said.
Zuckerberg was addressing declining morale at the company, especially in the Applied AI team where more than 6,500 employees feel dissatified with what they are doing.
“It’s literally the gulag,” one of the employees claims. “You have zero purpose in life all of a sudden, you barely interact with anyone, you just have these tasks every week."
I=7 Meta appoints founder of India’s fintech startup Cred as WhatsApp head
Meta will also invest $900 million in Cred,a fintech startup that offers consumers perks and rewards tied to their credit card repayments, giving Meta 20% ownership.
Kunal Shah will replace Will Cathcart, who has been running WhatsApp for around seven years.
Cathcart will step into a new role using AI tools to develop consumer apps and products.
Founded in 2018, Cred has 17 million monthly users.
“Kunal built Cred into one of India’s most important technology companies, and he brings the kind of builder mentality and global perspective that will serve him well in running the world’s biggest massaging app,” Zuckerberg wrote in a post.
I=5 Meta’s recently appointed President, Dina Powell McCormick, has gained a lot of influence at the company
Powell McCormick’s influence at the company now extends far beyond capital deals, Bloomberg reported, citing company insiders.
Powell McCormick is now trusted to deal with the company’s thorniest problems such as countering the backlash to AI and weighing in on major legal and reputational fights, like the recent $18 billion settlement with State Attorneys General over children’s safety.
Considered as an effective communicator, Powell McCormick attends political events, freeing Zuckerberg to spend time with engineers and researchers building Meta’s AI models.
“She is a close, trusted advisor of the whole senior leadership team, but especially of Mark,” said CJ Mahoney, Meta’s chief legal officer. “She’s generally the last person who’s consulted on really important decisions.”
Powell McCormick was appointed as Meta’s first Vice President in January.