Would Facebook survive without Zuckerberg?

Would Facebook survive without Zuckerberg?

The scandals in 2018 have raised the tone of criticism of the management of Mark Zuckerberg

  Could I move on Facebook without Mark Zuckeberg? This question is being asked by many analysts and, above all, by investors and it is increasingly resonating at the company's headquarters in Palo Alto (United States).

2018 closes and with it takes the worst year in the history of Facebook and perhaps the worst to date of Mark Zuckerberg at the helm of the company. The analysts consulted by Innova + are clear "it is difficult to see Zuckerberg out of Facebook".

   It is not the first time that voices have been raised calling for the resignation of the company president, the first complaints came in 2017. On that date, Facebook declined to make statements and waited for the turbulence to pass.

This year, doubts and complaints surfaced again. «Facebook plays a large role in our society and our economy. They have the social and financial responsibility to be transparent, which is why we demand independence and responsibility in the company's boardroom. " This is part of the statement signed by the state treasurers of Illinois, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, all of them own shares of the social network.

Facebook rejected the proposal in October and noted that "an independent president cause uncertainty, confusion and inefficiency in the function and relations of the board of directors and management." "To be frank, if we remove Mark Zuckerberg and replace him with Mahatma Gandhi, I do not think the corporation will change significantly," Barry Lynn, executive director of the Open Markets Institute, an organization that fights power, wrote last November. monopolistic in the United States.

Zuckerberg, just 34 years old, is the CEO of the largest social network in the world and one of the most powerful companies in the United States. He has become one of the opinion leaders with the greatest impact around the world and even placed him in the box for the US Presidential elections of 2020.

However, now everything has changed. 2018 has put everything against Zuckerberg and Facebook is no longer the idyllic social network of a few years ago. In 2019, 150 million people have been exposed to third parties.

To that figure are added the 87 million accounts related to the Cambridge Analytica Case and another 50 million users compromised by a security breach and without forgetting the latest scandal: during 12 days of this year, developers working for Facebook They had by accident access to almost seven million photos of private users.

Some serious problems that have caused several earthquakes within the social network and has led many users to forget the platform. In the United States, young people between 18 and 29 have erased the social network app from their phones so far this year, according to a Pew Research survey.

The loss of users, the problems with false news, the violent publications on the platform and the accusations of mismanagement have led Facebook to lose 29.19% in its annual stock revaluation. Moreover, according to Bloomberg's billionaire index, Zuckerberg has lost about 16,700 million euros this year.

"It is the eighth largest company in the world. It has 2 billion users. It is located in unexplored waters and has not behaved in a correct manner, which makes people feel good about Facebook and safe with respect to the handling of their personal data, "said Scott Stringer, auditor of the city of New York, after the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

A petition accompanied by more changes. "It was my fault," Zuckerberg said in his speech of more than 10 hours before the United States Senate last April. However, the scandals surrounding the company have not stopped.

Beyond the security breaches, in recent months the US media has revealed campaigns promoted by Facebook against investors like George Soros and pointing to number two in the social network.

Disgruntled Investors
It is already well known and public that several American investors are against the decisions taken by Zuckerberg and the direction of the company in recent months. In addition, discontent within the Zuckerberg universe is also relevant.

The last quarter of 2018 is being moved in the offices of Palo Alto. "It's time to move on, but I can not be more proud of how WhatsApp continues to touch people in many different ways every day. I am sure that WhatsApp will continue to be the product of simple, safe and reliable communication for years to come. I'm going to take some time to recharge and spend time with my family. " This is how Neeraj Arora, WhatsApp's business director, said goodbye in November for seven years.

To this output is added last May the founder of the famous instant messaging application, Jan Koum. And we must also add the departure of Instagram co-founders in September. Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger left the photography social network, because they want to explore their "curiosity and creativity" again.

At the head of the transatlantic is Zuckerberg, which is the majority shareholder of Facebook and represents 59.9% of the company. An impressive power that gives you the advantage of not having to answer to almost anyone, only the regulatory authorities.

This is due, explains the journalist Farhad Manjoo, to the culture of Silicon Valley where "executives suffer few personal or financial consequences for their mistakes. When their companies work well, they get all the credit and when their companies do badly, they are the only heroes that can fix them. "

Among the investors' hopes are that the SEC, the US stock exchange regulator, or the FTC, the country's Federal Trade Commission, take action. However, at the moment, Facebook has not committed any irregularities so that they enter ex officio in the structure of the large company.