Longtime Facebook Exec David Fischer Exits CRO Post

David Fischer, chief revenue officer (CRO) for Facebook since 2010, is stepping down from his role and will leave the social media giant by the end of this year, Bloomberg reported Tuesday (March 30).

Fischer is one of Facebook’s highest-ranking executives under Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg. The two previously worked together at Google and at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

As CRO, Fischer is tasked with advertising and marketing and also oversees operations for Facebook India, which is the tech giant’s biggest market. India is also one of the company’s most important for messaging and eCommerce, according to Bloomberg. Sales in India escalated 22 percent to nearly $86 billion last year.

A company spokeswoman told Bloomberg that Fischer is expected to stay on board until the fall and will help his replacement transition. In the meantime, Facebook will start conducting a search for Fischer’s role, both internally and externally.

Fischer said he is “optimistic about the path the company is on,” Bloomberg reported.

“I know that the tools we offer and the service we provide have been make-or-break for so many people, and the communities they serve,” he added, per Bloomberg.

Facebook’s $5.7 billion acquisition of Reliance Jio in April gave the social media giant a minority stake in the Indian telecom startup. It also gave Facebook a much larger foothold in the region.

Facebook reported in January that 2020 total revenue increased 33 percent year over year for the three months ended Dec. 31. Advertising revenue was up 31 percent year over year, reaching $27.19 billion. Facebook reported diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $3.88 on revenue of $28.07 billion, which beat analyst estimates of $3.22 earnings on $26.43 billion in revenue.

Sandberg said at the time that Facebook rolled out a new shop tab on Instagram in the fourth quarter.

“It’s still really early days,” she said on a call with analysts. “But we think businesses are having a good experience and people are having a good experience.”