Facebook CEO reaches out to Microsoft President for help: Report

Embroiled in massive data scandals amid losing stock and market cap, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly spoken to Microsoft President Brad Smith exploring the possibility of him joining the social networking platform and bring it back to glory.

According to a report in The Information on Monday, Zuckerberg spoke directly to Smith on how to build trust at Facebook.

"While the conversation didn't involve a formal job offer, Mr. Smith still felt compelled to let Mr. Zuckerberg know he was happy at Microsoft and had no desire to leave," the report said, quoting a person familiar with the talks.

According to the report, Zuckerberg usually seeks advice from billionaire Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates.

Another report from Wall Street Journal claimed last month that Gates suggested to Zuckerberg that Facebook consider hiring someone with a profile like that of Smith who can tackle regulators and lawmakers around the world -- gunning for Facebook over frequent users' data breaches and a recent expose of internal emails.

Facebook and Microsoft were yet to comment on the reports.

A New York Times investigation last month suggested that the social network under Chief Operating Officer (COO) Sheryl Sandberg hired a Republican-owned political consulting and PR firm that "dug up dirt on its competitors" including Soros.

Reacting to the report, Zuckerberg and Sandberg denied they had any prior knowledge about this firm.

Later, Facebook's outgoing Head of Communications and Policy Elliot Schrage took the full responsibility for hiring the political consulting and PR firm Definers Public Affairs.

Facebook has also lost the tag of best place to work in the US.

According to the leading job website Glassdoor's annual "100 Best Places to Work in the US" list, Facebook is now ranked No 7 -- scoring 4.5 out of a perfect 5.

The Glassdoor list came at a time when media reports said several Facebook employees are looking for better opportunities as scrutiny of the company's conduct rises following several cases of data leak and as its stock price takes a beating.

A recent CNBC report claimed that Facebook employees were contacting former colleagues to look for jobs outside the company.

--IANS

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