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Facebook Should 'Unfriend' CEO

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 2, 2009 1:50 PM CDT

(Newser) – Mark Zuckerberg has made mistakes in the past 6 weeks “that would have led to any normal CEO's firing,” Owen Thomas writes for Gawker, and the Facebook CEO's case should be no different. His three strikes: a privacy-shredding “terms of service disaster,” an “awful redesign,” and the “disgraceful, petty ouster” of a veteran manager. If the board is smart—and resourceful—it will dump the site’s founder.

“It is understandable for a 24-year-old to be fickle, easily swayed, and vengeful,” Thomas writes. “But that is the reason why we have very few 24-year-old CEOs.” Beyond the “public strikes” lies something worse: A failure to “build the company’s culture,” which he had claimed was his chief responsibility. “Here's the Harvard man in Zuckerberg revealed: He has assembled a coterie of servants instead of building a team.”

Mark Zuckerberg.
Mark Zuckerberg.   (AP Photo)
Zuckerberg poses at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif.
Zuckerberg poses at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif.   (AP Photo)
Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Facebook, USA.
Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Facebook, USA.   (AP Photo)
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It might be good for Facebook to have a CEO who's indifferent to the job, as opposed to someone who wants it all too badly, but doesn't know how to do it. - Owen Thomas

We think Netscape cofounder Marc Andreessen is the one Zuckerberg needs. Already a mentor to the young entrepreneur and a Facebook board member, Andreessen has few undiscardable obligations. - Owen Thomas

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COMMENTS
Showing 2 of 2 comments
Observer
Apr 2, 2009 11:32 AM CDT
No way a smart ass punk can lead a billion-dollar business. Period.
maevealleine
Apr 2, 2009 7:19 AM CDT
i really hate the new redesign. i wish they would revert back to the last one.

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