Facebook’s Chief Marketing Officer Antonio Lucio is leaving the social media behemoth after just two years on the job to actively promote diversity in the technology sector.
He wrote on his LinkedIn page: “After two meaningful years, I have decided to step down as chief marketing officer of Facebook.
“This has been a challenging year for all and an especially reflective year for me, following my mother’s passing before the lockdown. Given the historical inflection point we are in regarding racial justice, I have decided to dedicate 100 percent of my time to diversity, inclusion and equity. Though these issues have been core to my personal purpose and my work for many years, I want to make them my sole focus.”
He continued: “I will devote the next chapter of my professional life to helping companies and agencies in the marketing and advertising industries accelerate their transformation and to drive holistic and profound change. It is a time for reckoning for our nation and industry, and it is time for me to play a more active part in accelerating change.
“In leaving Facebook, I am nothing but grateful,” he wrote. “I believe in Facebook’s mission, and COVID has demonstrated the platforms at their best. As the company evolves, striking the right balance between preserving freedom of speech and eliminating hateful speech on the platforms is a generation-defining question that must continue to be addressed. I know the company and its leadership agree on the centrality of this important task. GRACIAS!”
According to his LinkedIn profile, Lucio graduated from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor of Arts in history, and worked at Kraft, PepsiCo, Visa and Hewlett-Packard prior to joining Facebook in September 2018. His Facebook corporate profile states that he was born in Spain and grew up in Puerto Rico.
These are difficult days for Facebook, which is in the crosshairs of regulators concerned about issues including free speech and the concentration of advertising industry power.
At the same time, the company continues to press deeper into existing markets and new markets, such as financial services.
Lucio had kind words for his Facebook management colleagues in a post quoted by Bloomberg: “This is a remarkable group of leaders, sometimes misunderstood by the external world, but deeply caring and committed to ensuring these platforms have a positive impact on the world.”
On LinkedIn, Lucio wrote that his last day on the job would be Sept. 18.
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