 Rachel Whetstone |
British executive Rachel Whetstone is joining Facebook to head global communications, replacing Jonathan Friedland, who was fired in June for using the N-word during a staff meeting.
The move comes as Netflix is spending a big chunk of its $8B programming budget outside the US and unveiled plans to shell out $1B for original productions in Europe, according to the Financial Times.
"Rachel is a proven communications leader and a strong addition to the Netflix team," Reed Hastings, Netflix CEO, said in a statement. "Her deep knowledge and international expertise will be invaluable as we bring Netflix and its expanding lineup of original content to an increasingly global audience."
Whetstone joined Facebook a year ago as VP-communications in charge of Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger.
Earlier, she did a two-year stint at Uber and spent a decade at Google as senior VP-communications and public policy.
At Google, she was front and center as Google tangled with the European Commission over its market leadership position.
Why CEO visibility is no longer optional as a communications tactic.
The “waiting period” that was once set aside for CEOs to develop their strategies before facing media scrutiny may be better used for corporate comms leaders get to know their CEO and what his or her short-term priorities will be.
Senior-most communications executives in the Fortune 500 earned between $50,000 and $100,000 more this year than they did two years ago, according to a recent survey of chief communications officers.
