Sir Nick Clegg to leave Meta ahead of Trump’s return

Sir Nick’s departure is seen by some analysts as a nod to the changing of the guard in Washington.

He joined Facebook in 2018, after losing his seat as an MP in 2017. He was later promoted to president of global affairs, a prominent position at Meta.

He was instrumental in launching Meta’s oversight board, a panel of experts that makes decisions and advises Mr Zuckerberg on policies around content moderation, privacy, and other issues.

Sir Nick has been open about his views on Trump’s close ally, Elon Musk, describing him as a political puppet master, claiming he has turned X, formerly Twitter, into a “one-man hyper-partisan hobby horse”.

The former Liberal Democrat leader moved to Silicon Valley initially but returned to London in 2022.

In his statement, he said he was moving on to “new adventures” with “immense gratitude and pride” at what he had been part of.

He said: “My time at the company coincided with a significant resetting of the relationship between ‘big tech’ and the societal pressures manifested in new laws, institutions and norms affecting the sector.

“I hope I have played some role in seeking to bridge the very different worlds of tech and politics – worlds that will continue to interact in unpredictable ways across the globe.”

He added: “I am simply thrilled that my deputy, Joel Kaplan, will now become Meta’s chief global affairs officer…He is quite clearly the right person for the right job at the right time!”