Facebook Chief Marketing Officer Leaves Company to Advise Democratic Party for 2020 Elections

Former Facebook Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Gary Briggs has left the company to advise the Democratic party in the US midterms and 2020 elections.

Recode reports that Gary Briggs, who joined the company as CMO in 2013 after leaving Google, announced his plans to leave his job at Facebook to advise the Democratic party for the 2020 elections. Briggs will be staying on at Facebook to help his manager, Chris Cox, find his replacement. Briggs, who already advises companies such as  Lending Club and Lagunitas, stated that he plans to act in an advisory capacity to a number of other company’s but will also be taking steps into the political world.

Briggs announced the move in a Facebook post:

Briggs discussed his time at Facebook saying, “I am so grateful for my 4 1/2 years as CMO at Facebook and will work now on hiring my successor. It’s an amazing job at an amazing time with the best marketing team. While I’m getting ready for my next chapter, I’m not done yet. I’ll be here at Facebook fully committed until we hire someone great and they ramp up.”

He then outlined his future plans saying, “I’m going to pursue some advisory work for a few companies and hopefully join a few boards. I’ll explore teaching a bit. We’re going to travel some and start to split our time in and out of the Bay Area and Seattle. And I plan to help the Democratic Party on some efforts leading up to the US midterms this year through to 2020.”

Briggs move into politics adds credence to the rumors that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg may be considering a run for the U.S. presidency. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg was also revealed to be highly partisan, offering help to Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager John Podesta, saying in an email to Podesta “I still want HRC [Hillary Rodham Clinton] to win badly. I am still here to help as I can. She came over and was magical with my kids.”