Zuckerberg threatens to leave Nasdaq and key lieutenant quits
Jim Armitage
Jim Armitage is an adviser to Evgeny Lebedev, owner of the Evening Standard and Independent titles, and a former Deputy City Editor of the Evening Standard
Monday 18 June 2012
Facebook has suffered the first resignation of a top-flight executive since last month's controversial stock market flotation, adding to the headaches facing Mark Zuckerberg, who has seen the company's shares plummet since their debut.
Bret Taylor, chief technology officer, announced over the weekend that he was quitting to set up his own company with a senior Google engineer.
Silicon Valley experts have long predicted that Facebook's flotation could trigger a host of departures from the senior ranks who became millionaires overnight.
Mr Taylor's departure emerged amid reports that Facebook could ditch the Nasdaq stock market and move its shares on to the main New York Stock Exchange in protest at the debacle of its flotation last month. The company is known to have been furious about the technical glitches that marred its shares trading debut and has blamed Nasdaq. It has even appeared to suggest that the trading glitches contributed to the collapse in the share price since the float. Facebook floated its stock at $38 a share but they have tumbled to just over $30, wiping more than $20bn off the company's valuation.
If Facebook was to quit Nasdaq it would be a severe blow to the technology market, which has prided itself on being the world's leading technology exchange. On top of the threat of its most high-profile member quitting, Nasdaq also faces the prospect of a lawsuit from Morgan Stanley citing "reputational damage" arising from the float. That claim comes on top of the class action lawsuits being prepared by disgruntled investors over the way that the flotation was handled.
Mr Taylor has been a big figure in Facebook's new product developments such as Open Graph, which are seen as key to delivering revenue growth from its vast subscriber base.
Separately, Facebook agreed to pay $10m to charity to settle a lawsuit accusing it of violating users' rights to control the use of their own names and photographs.
-
That's some guestlist! Stunning images show huge dynastic wedding between Ultra-Orthodox Jewish families which attracted 25,000 guests
-
'He was always smiling': Lee Rigby named as Woolwich victim
-
'Sickening, deluded and unforgivable': Horrific attack brings terror to London’s streets
-
Exclusive: Woolwich killings suspect Michael Adebolajo was inspired by cleric banned from UK after urging followers to behead enemies of Islam
-
Seeing the larger picture: Inspiring images of space
- 1 Pope Francis: Being an atheist is alright as long as you do good
- 2 'He was always smiling': Lee Rigby named as Woolwich victim
- 3 'Sickening, deluded and unforgivable': Horrific attack brings terror to London’s streets
- 4 'Something passed underneath us, quite close': Airbus A320 has close encounter with UFO
- 5 Lord of the Sings: Sir Christopher Lee, 91, to release heavy metal album
Get your summer started with British Military Fitness
BMF is the UK’s biggest and best loved outdoor fitness classes
Visit York
Find out what The Independent's resident travel expert has to say about one of the most beautiful small cities in the world
Making reading fun for kids
Nook is donating eReaders to volunteers at high-need schools and participating in exclusive events throughout the campaign.
Introducing the 'Get Reading' campaign
Get the latest on The Evening Standard's campaign to get London's children reading.
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
Day In a Page
The man who's eaten everywhere
A Berliner in 1963 – but did John F Kennedy once admire Adolf Hitler?
Banned Iranian director to attend Cannes Film Festival
The 10 Best salt and pepper sets
Ferran Soriano: Predicting success if Manchester City 'vision' is followed
Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them


Comments