Facebook confirmed that CFO Gideon Yu is leaving the company and that the world's largest social network is searching for a replacement with "public company experience."
Following
reports about Yu's departure Tuesday in The Wall Street Journal and the D: All Things Digital blog, Facebook issued a statement saying it had retained Spencer Stuart to find a new CFO. "Despite
the poor economic climate, we are pleased that our financial performance is strong and are well positioned for the next stage of our growth," according to the statement.
D: All Things Digital
reported Facebook said in an internal memo to staff that it was on track toward a public offering soon, with revenue growth up 70 percent in 2009 and EBITDA profitability this year and that it would
be cash flow positive in 2010.
Yu, who had replaced Mike Sheridan as Facebook CFO in 2007, was credited by Facebook with building a strong finance team at the company and "establishing the core
financial operations of our company." But the D: All Things Digital report cited unnamed sources saying that relations between Yu and Zuckerberg had become strained over strategy
disagreements.--Mark Walsh