Zuckerberg Hires Another VP From Google: Elliot Schrage
Erick Schonfeld
47 comments »
Mark Zuckerberg loves to hire folks from Google. His poaching started in earnest last year, and includes Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, CFO Gideon Yu, and others. The latest is Elliot Schrage, Google’s vice president of global communications and public affairs. He will join Facebook on May 14 under the same role. Zuckerberg’s letter to the troops leaked to us:
Hey Everyone –
I’m writing from India to share with you the good news that Elliot Schrage will be joining our management team as VP Communications and Public Policy. In this role, he will be responsible for developing the key messages we want people to understand about our products, our business and the growing global importance of social networking and what we do. The goal here is to help people understand how the internet can strengthen people’s relationships. Elliot will direct our efforts to work with users, media, governments and other entities around the world to ensure that Facebook’s policies are transparent, responsive, effective and are recognized as being those things.
Elliot is joining us from Google where he has been their VP Global Communications and Public Affairs since 2005. At Google, he broadened the company’s messaging from a focus on only product PR to include all aspects of corporate, financial, policy, philanthropic and internal communications. Before that, he served as a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, a public policy think tank, as a professor at Columbia Business School and as SVP at Gap. Early on, he began his career as a Harvard-trained lawyer.
This is a really important role for us and one that we’ve been trying to find the right person for a while. Elliot’s role will be critical to helping us scale based on our culture that values transparency, openness, and honest internal communications.
Elliot will be starting on May 14, although you may see him around the office before then.
That would be nice.. facebook needs more international liaisons… we’re still awaiting updates since our signup to facebook’s “partner program”..
Facebook is moving real fast to attract talents!
Fucking dickhole is trying to spread facebook in India ..
What’s Mark doing in India? Preparing to launch something in India?
Zuckerberg in India?!?
Is there a major announcement coming out about a desi version of Facebook. BTW, Myspace has already launched it’s Indian version around 3-4 weeks ago. Orkut is big in India!
I didn’t know Facebook is going to take over India soon..
I bet Facebook is giving these people huge upfront lumps of cash to work for a fad site that will be an afterthought in just a couple years.
MZ wants to send the msg to larry page, “PPl admires me better than you, good ppl comes to me”
what a childish move.
Call it strange coincidence… yesterday on Indian CNN IBN news channel, i heard of the news about Facebook fatigue… ‘why during Zuckerberg’s visit?’
he seems too old to be working there
I think zuckerberg is on those cheap “know the world trip” . After all he is still a college kid!
Hahaha…Schrage who? The article should be about Mark’s trip to India instead. Outsourcing might help slow down facebook burn rate.
About the move, suits didn’t build google, engineers did. Steal engineers from google, not suits.
Do you think Schmit is throwing chairs in his office?
How does or is Facebook going to make money? Don’t they have the same problem as MySpace, where CPM rates are extremely low? I think Google will keep innovating and stay above all the rest–nobody can catch them.
Is it just me or do the two pix of Schrage show his transition from relaxed, hip, happy pre-IPO Googler to fancy suited evil corporate mastermind?
Whooza! The pages and Brins swept the carpet from under the Gates. Why wont the ZUckerbergs do the same?
Facebook will never be able to dent Orkut’s share in the Indian market ever..
Zuckerberg Go Back!
Great!
After Myspace, its now FB thats entering India?
What happened to youtube.in?
–Nikhil
How exactly will FB make money so they can pay all these people? Can they continue raising money indefinitely?!?
Haaaa…Who u kidding bozos. Google rules and always will. Take people away from Google but try taking Google away from them!
Google reigns BIG TIME!
Facebook is doing all this just to keep himself away from eaten bu big fishes…..after Yahoo deal fiasco MSFT might try again with facebook to eat it….and get some air in online space. MZ in india…..wait for some news.
-Anindya
Smart move by Zuckerberg. Lots of challenges in international PR waters.
Let’s remember that Elliot handled the China Fiasco for Google.
More thoughts on this hire here: http://facereviews.com/2008/05.....ation-exec
Techcrunch, can you provide details of why faceberg was in India? We know you have great connections all around the tech world!
Peace.
@13
No, he’s happy as hell this guy is going to facebook probably.
Mark Zuckerberg is doing the right thing in establishing a FaceBook presence in India. Facebook’s payroll numbers must be going through the roof, and until they figure out a way to cut down costs, they are never going to earn a decent enough profit for Wall Street.
I love his description of the CFR - he clearly needed to look it up and grabbed the first generic definition possible.
GIVE VALLEYWAG SOME CREDIT FOR THIS. YOU GUYS JUST GO RIP OFF CONTENT NOW?
I agree with john that Facebook needs to minimize payroll and overhead costs. They seem to be grabbing Google employees as some sort of status symbol. This article actually just inspired an article on Resourceful Idiot.
You have to pay to play Silicon Valley. Wonder why you can’t find really good people to fill your ranks? YOU HAVE TO PAY $$$ FOR THEM
Enough of Silicon Valley weak salaries!!
Facebook seems to be following the same strategy as our own country. “Expand and spend money until the end”.
Where is this whole mess leading facebook anyway? Their product is social services which btw cannot compare with real human interaction. I’d like to see Faceberg bring forth a business model from his baby or should I say Teenager?
Domain Name: FACEBOOK.COM
Creation Date: 29-mar-1997
Overall though I think Google has nothing to worry about since they control the advertising and search market and soon to be cellphone market.
@12: Engineers don’t build businesses, they build technologies that MAY actually build businesses. Page and Brin built a search engine. If it were not for the “suits” from Stanford that saw the potential for advertising through search, Google would never had been anything more than a search engine, a back end provider for Yahoo and others (which is how they started).
@19: Apparently (and I’m stumped as much as you are) there seems to be no shortage of fools willing to part with their money for a piece of FB. I think that’s what the Jewish kid is banking on. Should be interesting …
Oh My God! Zuckerberg bought a can of soup! Is Facebook starting a recipe site? Or opening a hardware store? Are they buying Walmart?
Settle down, people…
Oh, another awesome scoop from the TechCrunch hacks. Zuckerburg hires some square jawed bizdev lawyer! They’re so great. Nothing but faeries and leprechauns in their future.
Hey I thought any site that doesn’t do search advertising needs to be bought by Microsoft because they can’t survive just on sheer volume of unique users. No? Consistency of logic is what rules at TechCrunch - Yahoo’s plan to make money off massive usage by unique users is trashed by Assington, but everytime Zuckerburg eats a candy bar it’s the smartest move ever.
You rabble of pretentious hype spouting ass clowns.
Wow Mike, Elliot (ex-lawyer) has taken your dream job in FB now what are you going to do?
Blogging burnout which you twittered about means you will probably need to sell TC to someone soon but who? You hate all other media companies and they hate you.
@20 ‘Google rules big time’ Rah Rah Rah! You stupid fanboi.
Gee Mark Zuckerbird.
Thanks for going out of your way to tell us employees you are writing from India. As though that makes a frigging bit of difference except to your skinny little ego.
You frigging oddball. Get your goofy little but back in the office or you’re fired.
A Harvard trained lawyer none the less ! !
Is this is supposed to be good news or bad news?
Google will not sit idle it will hire from some other biggies.