In a surprising move today, the Chief Financial Officer of Facebook, Gideon Yu, will be leaving the company. Although the departure appears to be some form of an ouster, Facebook does not currently have anybody to fill the CFO slot, raising the question: Why did he leave? The company has retained Spencer Stuart to lead the search for a replacement.
Reported by the Wall Street Journal, the former Yahoo! and Youtube executive either left or was forced out without providing a public reason.
This has led to speculation that Facebook is "stepping up plans for a public offering," although that may be inadvisable in the current economy. Unless investors like Microsoft, who bought a preferred 1.6% stake at a valuation of $15 billion, are willing to take a haircut, that strategy would seem unlikely anytime soon.
Like many other users/addicts of Facebook, I think the company has a great product, but will have serious trouble emerging as a profitable enterprise. Whoever replaces Yu will have a challenge regardless of any IPO plans.
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