Yahoo Finance Facebook board member: Big tech is asking itself important questions
Sue Desmond-Hellmann, CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is also on the board of Facebook (FB). The social media giant has been embroiled in both internal and external battles related to election meddling and data privacy concerns.
In a sit-down interview at the World Economic Forum, Yahoo Finance editor-in-chief Andy Serwer asked Desmond-Hellmann, “Do companies [like Facebook] need to reassess their position in society?”
“Facebook and all companies in social media — all companies in tech — are asking those questions,” she said. “It’s fascinating for me at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation where I lead and at Facebook where I’m on the board….the voice of staff, the voice of employees, the voice of civil society and governments, are engaged in a really important conversation about who we want to be. And how we want companies to show up. I think that’s really healthy.”
The interview came the same week as reports emerged that the FTC is considering hitting Facebook with a $22.5 million fine over privacy violations.
Facebook in particular has not only been criticized by its users but has also faced blowback over its workplace culture. Earlier this month, a Facebook engineering manager quit because her colleagues harassed her over her views on diversity, she said. A few months ago, Mark Luckie, a former partnerships manager, wrote a scathing email which he then published publicly on Facebook asserting that “Facebook has a black people problem.’”
The criticism over tech company culture is not new. Back in 2015, The New York Times published a notorious report on Amazon’s “bruising” work culture. Last November, tens of thousands of Google employees staged walkouts all around the world to protest how the giant has handled sexual harassment.
Desmond-Hellmann, who is an oncologist by training, emphasized the importance of listening to others. While Davos is known as a hobnobbing event for the super elite, she argues that it’s the perfect opportunity for voices like hers to be heard by powerful industry titans.
“[As I talk] about global health, agriculture, nutrition (the causes that we care about at Gates Foundation), I find a lot of kindred spirits. People think of [Davos] as money and power. Why wouldn’t we want to tap into money and power for the causes we care about? Like everybody I’m here because you can see a lot of important people who have a shared agenda. Our agenda has a wonderful mission. Other people’s agenda might be creating value for shareholders. I’m happy with that, but it’s amazing how much we all have in common,” she said.
Melody Hahm is a senior writer at Yahoo Finance, covering entrepreneurship, technology and real estate. Follow her on Twitter @melodyhahm. She hostsBreakouts, a monthly interview series for Yahoo Finance featuring up-close and intimate conversations with today’s most innovative business leaders.
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