Zuckerberg Pushes Back, Defends Sandberg in CNN Sit-Down
*By Carlo Versano*
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave a rare [television interview](https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/20/tech/mark-zuckerberg-interview/index.html) on Tuesday night in an attempt to control the deepening scandals enveloping his social-media empire.
Speaking to CNN from Facebook's Menlo Park, Calif. headquarters, Zuckerberg dismissed calls by some shareholders and pundits to step down from his chairman role. Zuckerberg is both chairman and CEO of Facebook ($FB) and controls the majority of voting shares, making him among the most powerful chief executives in America.
When asked if he would step down as chair, Zuckerberg said, "That's not the plan."
The 34-year-old CEO also responded to a damning report in The New York Times from last week, in which both he and deputy Sheryl Sandberg are described as fumbling the response to early reports of Russian interference on the platform ahead of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The Times also revealed Facebook's relationship with a controversial PR firm, Definers Public Affairs, which attempted to smear anti-Facebook advocates. The social media giant has since cut ties with the firm, and the Facebook executive who hired Definers [reportedly](https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/20/schrage-definers/) took the blame in an internal memo.
Zuckerberg hit back at The Times in his CNN interview, insisting that some of its reporting wasn't accurate.
“A lot of the things that were in that report, we talked to the reporters ahead of time and told them that from everything that we’d seen, that wasn’t true and they chose to print it anyway," Zuckerberg said. The Times said it stands by its reporting.
Zuckerberg also defended his embattled second-in-command, Sheryl Sandberg, whom he reportedly blamed for Facebook's response to its PR crises. "She's been an important partner for me for 10 years," he said. "I hope that we work together for decades more to come."
Nestlé has dismissed its CEO Laurent Freixe after an investigation into an undisclosed relationship with a direct subordinate. The company announced on Monday that the dismissal was effective immediately. An investigation found that Freixe violated Nestlé’s code of conduct. He had been CEO for a year. Philipp Navratil, a longtime Nestlé executive, will replace him. Chairman Paul Bulcke stated that the decision was necessary to uphold the company’s values and governance. Navratil began his career with Nestlé in 2001 and has held various roles, including CEO of Nestlé's Nespresso division since 2024.
Kraft Heinz is splitting into two companies a decade after they joined in a massive merger that created one of the biggest food companies on the planet. One of the companies will include brands such as Heinz, Philadelphia cream cheese and Kraft Mac & Cheese. The other will include brands like Oscar Mayer, Kraft Singles and Lunchables. When the company formed in 2015 it wanted to capitalize on its massive scale, but shifting tastes complicated those plans, with households seeking to introduce healthier options at the table. Kraft Heinz's net revenue has fallen every year since 2020.
