• Contact Us
  • Login
Upgrade
Tech News Hero
Advertisement
  • Home
  • News
  • Gadgets
  • Social
  • Gaming
  • Mobile
  • PC
  • Internet
  • Security
  • Apps
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Gadgets
  • Social
  • Gaming
  • Mobile
  • PC
  • Internet
  • Security
  • Apps
No Result
View All Result
Tech News Hero
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Facebook board adds Zuckerberg friend, Dropbox’s CEO – TechNewHero

by technewshero
February 3, 2020
in News
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Shareholders have repeatedly tried to oust Facebook’s chairman Mark Zuckerberg. The board has repeatedly rejected that demand. Outside investors are unlikely to get much help with that push from Facebook’s newest board member: Dropbox co-founder and CEO Drew Houston.

The addition of Houston is the first since the departure of Dr. Susan Desmond-Hellmann from the board in October. She was the lead independent director and that role remains empty. While the “independent” status relates to financial ties, business aside, Houston and Zuckerberg’s personal relationship might have complicated the storage startup leader asuming that position.

Zuckerberg and Houston have been close for 8 years, appearing in photos together since at least 2012 when they rode around the exclusive Allen & Co Sun Valley conference together (seen above). A less flattering moment saw Zuckerberg and ex-Uber CEO Travis Kalanick celebrating Houston’s birthday at a “Babes & Balls” themed party at ping-pong bar Spin in San Francisco.

Mark Zuckerberg plays ping-pong at SPiN in San Francisco while Drew Houston (to his right) watches on. Image by via Ryan Soule of SPiN via USA Today

Houston has also found a mentor in Zuckerberg, who went through the trials of an initial public offering with Facebook a few years before Dropbox made the journey. Houston told Bloomberg in 2015 that “[Zuckerberg’s] given me a lot of advice just on company scaling, how do you organize people, how do you set up these systems.”

Houston is an accomplished technologist, graduating in computer science from MIT where he came up with the idea for Dropbox. As Facebook undertakes an integration of its messaging apps to expand end-to-end encryption, Houston’s guidance could serve the company well.

But given Dropbox has come under less scrutiny for its content moderation and impact on society, two issues constantly facing Zuckerberg and Facebook, he may have less to add on the topics than Desmond-Hellmann. She had been the CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation philanthropy and the chancellor of University Of California, San Francisco.

Facebook’s shareholders have proposed removing Zuckerberg from his role as Chairman of the board multiple times, including in late 2018 and mid 2019. But the rest of the board have continued to support Zuckerberg, who has accepted blame for failing to emphasize safety earlier and warned of the current profit slowdown as Facebook invests in security and content moderation. Despite constant backlash and a rough reaction to its earnings last week, Facebook’s share price remains near its all-time high.

Facebook’s board now includes Zuckerberg; Peggy Alford of PayPal,  Marc Andreessen of Andreessen Horowitz, Kenneth I. Chenault of General Catalyst, Sheryl K. Sandberg of Facebook, Peter A. Thiel of Founders Fund, Jeffrey D. Zients of the Cranemere Group, Houston.

Those hoping for board members who will put more pressure on Zuckerberg may need to look towards who eventually fills the independent board director spot. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings who was known to push back at Zuckerberg more than other members left the board last year.

Facebook would benefit greatly from an independent board director with a healthy level of skepticism about how the social network impacts democracy, human rights, and people’s attention. Zuckerberg and his inner circle are known as optimists who see the potential of technology to improve our lives. But Facebook has done a better job at fulfilling that opportunity than safeguarding against the side effects of connecting everyone — particularly those happy to exploit or degrade others out of greed for wealth or power. Facebook’s 2.5 billion users would gain more if its next board member had more perspective on the consequences of technology and the upheaval it can cause in developing nations around the world.

 

Previous Post

PhonePe Introduces Chat Feature on Android, iOS

Next Post

This Wine Preserver and Dispenser Keeps Your Wine Fresh

technewshero

technewshero

Related Posts

Fluence, the energy storage systems developer, is now worth over $1 billion after QIA investment – TechCrunch
News

Fluence, the energy storage systems developer, is now worth over $1 billion after QIA investment – TechCrunch

by technewshero
January 13, 2021
Elon Musk says SpaceX will attempt to recover Super Heavy rocket by catching it with launch tower – TechCrunch
News

Elon Musk says SpaceX will attempt to recover Super Heavy rocket by catching it with launch tower – TechCrunch

by technewshero
January 14, 2021
2020 will change the way we look at robotics – TechCrunch
News

2020 will change the way we look at robotics – TechCrunch

by technewshero
January 15, 2021
An earnest review of a robotic cat pillow – TechCrunch
News

An earnest review of a robotic cat pillow – TechCrunch

by technewshero
January 16, 2021
Trump vetoes major defense bill, citing Section 230 – TechNewHero
News

Trump vetoes major defense bill, citing Section 230 – TechNewHero

by technewshero
December 24, 2020
Next Post

This Wine Preserver and Dispenser Keeps Your Wine Fresh

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Most Popular

Ransomware: Why cities have become such a big target for cyberattacks – and why it’ll get worse

July 24, 2019
Toyota Will Introduce its First All-Electric Vehicles in the US This Year

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Delivers in New Trailer

February 14, 2021
A paradigm shift in grocery – TechNewHero

A paradigm shift in grocery – TechNewHero

December 15, 2020

Browse by Category

  • Apps
  • Gadgets
  • Gaming
  • Internet
  • Mobile
  • News
  • PC & Laptops
  • Security
  • Social
Tech News Hero

© 2020 Tech News Hero.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Landing Page
  • Buy JNews
  • Support Forum
  • Contact Us

© 2020 Tech News Hero.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?