Cambridge Analytica CEO Steps Down, Head of UK Arm to Take Over
Julian Wheatland will be replacing Alexander Tayler as the new CEO of Cambridge Analytica.
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Alexander Tayler, the acting CEO of the now infamous data firm Cambridge Analytica, officially stepped down from his position on Wednesday, 11 April. Julian Wheatland, the chairman of Cambridge Analytica’s British affiliate, will reportedly replace Tayler as the firm’s new Chief.
As reported by Forbes, Tayler will now resume his previous role, as the chief data officer of the firm.
“The Board has announced today that Dr Alexander Tayler has stepped down as acting CEO of Cambridge Analytica and will resume his former position as Chief Data Officer in order to focus on the various technical investigations and inquiries,” the firm said, in an official statement.
Tayler had assumed the post of Cambridge Analytica CEO after the firm suspended its previous CEO, Alexander Nix, on 20 March, over an undercover video footage of him claiming his company has used honey traps, bribery stings, and prostitutes, among other tactics, to influence more than 200 elections globally.
Politico, studying the profile of Julian Wheatland, the new CEO, reports that he was the chairman of the SCL Group for nine years, and has also been criticised by the same people who have accused the British Conservative Party “of being cosy” with Cambridge Analytica.
The transfer of the CEO’s power comes at a time when both the firm and Facebook are receiving worldwide contempt, with Facebook users fearing that their data is no longer safe.
On the same day that the firm announced that Tayler was stepping down, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was making his second appearance in front of the Congress, to testify about the company's practices around privacy, content moderation, hate speech and Russian election meddling, reports Forbes.
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