• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, May 8, 2018

As part of a major reorganization, Facebook is dividing its corporate structure into three parts: “apps;” new platforms and infrastructure; and “central product services.”  

Effective immediately, Facebook’s Chief Product Officer Chris Cox will oversee the apps division; Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer will head up new platforms and infrastructure; and VP of growth Javier Olivan is now responsible for central product services, which consists of ads, analytics; integrity, growth, and product management..

The apps division includes Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Facebook’s flagship service. Under Cox’s command, Chris Daniels will run WhatsApp, while Stan Chudnovsky oversees Messenger.   

Making way for Daniels, WhatsApp cofounder Jan Koum recently announced plans to leave Facebook. Messenger’s existing head, David Marcus, will head up a new blockchain unit -- a move that he says was his idea.

“I have decided it was time for me to take on a new challenge,” Marcus says in a new post. “I’m setting up a small group to explore how to best leverage blockchain across Facebook, starting from scratch.”

The new blockchain team will fall under new platforms and infrastructure, along with Facebook’s AR, VR, and AI efforts. Andrew Bosworth will oversee AR and VR, while Jerome Pesenti is leading AI.

The changes were announced internally, on Tuesday, with Marcus and other executives making public statements.

The only official announcement from Facebook noted that its board was adding a private-equity executive, Jeff Zients, CEO of The Cranemere Group, an investment and holding company.

Previously, Zients served in the Obama administration as director of the National Economic Council and acting director of the Office of Management and Budget.

“This is an important time for Facebook as we take a broader view of our responsibility. Jeff's experience will help us navigate the challenges we face,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a separate post, on Tuesday.

A Facebook spokeswoman confirmed the changes on Tuesday, but declined to say what motivated them.

Facebook is still recovering from one its biggest PR disasters in its 15-year history.