Ajit Mohan, the head of Meta India, has resigned from the social media company, Meta announced on Thursday. He’s joining competitor Snap, the parent company of social media app Snapchat.
“After almost 4 years at the helm of Meta (Facebook) in India, I am stepping down from my role. I am grateful to the company for the amazing opportunity to lead its efforts in one of its most important countries, and I am absolutely proud of the work the team and I have done to make an impact for people, creators and businesses across the country achieve. ‘ Mohan said in a LinkedIn post.
“In taking on this role, my goal was to build a team and a company that would be a valuable ally for India and play a useful role in promoting its economic and social transformation. This is exactly what we have been able to do in the last four years. I am also pleased to announce that I will lead the Asia Pacific region for Snap and will be part of the company’s leadership team. I can’t wait to get started,” he added.
Mohan joined Meta India in January 2019 as Managing Director, then Facebook India. During his tenure, WhatsApp and Instagram added 200 million users in India. A graduate of Johns Hopkins University and the Wharton School, France, Mohan has also worked with consulting firm Mckinsey & Company, The Wall Street Journal, Star TV Network and OTT platform Hotstar, where he served as Chief Executive Officer for four years .
Nicola Mendelsohn, Vice President of Meta’s Global Business Group, said in a statement: “Over the past four years he has played an important role in shaping and scaling our Indian operations to enable them to serve many millions of Indian businesses, partners and people . We remain deeply committed to India and have a strong leadership team driving all of our work and partnerships forward. We are grateful for Ajit’s leadership and contribution and wish him all the best in the future.”
Notably, Meta India has faced several controversies during his tenure as chairman, including claims that Facebook in India is promoting posts supporting the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and violating its hate speech policy in India. His exit comes at a time when the Indian government is scrutinizing WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram, as well as other big tech companies, more closely for data breaches. Manish Chopra has since joined as interim boss.
