 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.
Established through a founding gift from 2025 Page Hall of Fame inductee and former Weber Shandwick Global CEO Andy Polansky, the fund is meant to serve as a catalyst for empowering future senior communications leaders as well as increasing the diversity in the chief communications officer pipeline.
Some well-honed communications strategies typically deployed in an activist situation must be set aside when the activist is also the founder of the company. Such situations require a more tailored response: one that respects the founder’s credibility without conceding the company’s future, addresses shareholders’ financial interests while acknowledging questions of legacy, and anticipates that the fight may be as personal and persistent as it is strategic.
Molly Fogarty, who rose to head of corporate affairs & sustainability at Nestle during a nearly 23-year stint, will join Brunswick Group as a partner in DC on Sept. 14.
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