Facebook names Erskine Bowles to its board of directors
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Facebook has added to its board of directors Erskine Bowles, the former White House chief of staff who recently co-chaired President Obama’s Bipartisan Deficit Commission.
Bowles, who served as chief of staff under President Clinton, was also the president of the 17-campus University of North Carolina system.
‘Erskine has held important roles in government, academia and business which have given him insight into how to build organizations and navigate complex issues,’ said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive and co-founder, in a statement. ‘Along with his experience founding companies, this will be very valuable as we continue building new things to help make the world more open and connected.’
Bowles said that Facebook has ‘clearly emerged as a transformative force in the world. It’s no wonder given the talent Mark has put in place and the company’s focus and dedication to its mission. I’m really looking forward to getting to work and helping Facebook however I can.’
A native of North Carolina, Bowles also holds board positions with the financial services firm Morgan Stanley, southern retail chain Belk Inc., real-estate developer Cousins Properties Inc. and the railway company Norfolk Southern Corp.
Bowles also led the Small Business Administration under Clinton and was later appointed to Clinton’s Cabinet on the National Security Council and the National Economic Council. Bowles has a bachelor’s degree from UNC and an MBA from Columbia.
Facebook has been beefing up its board of directors in advance of what is expected to be a $100-billion IPO next year sometime. Most recently before Bowles, Facebook added Reed Hastings, Netflix’s chief executive, to its board.
The addition of Bowles to Faceook’s board arrived alongside reports Wednesday that the most popular social network in the world saw its revenue double to $1.6 billion in the first six months of 2011, according to an unnamed source speaking to Reuters.
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-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles