Former head of sales for MySpace in France, Damien Vincent will be leaving Facebook France as the end of March, according to JDN. Facebook has not announced Damien’s successor, but has noted that Carolyn Everson, Vice President of Global Marketing Solutions based in London, will not be taking the role, so it seems that will be either bringing in someone from the outside, or promoting from within the French office.
This story comes a rocky period for Facebook. After a semi-successful, semi-disastrous IPO (depending on when you bought/sold), Facebook has seen continued growth in users, as well as an introduction of mobile advertising that has begun to raise eyebrows with interest. Vincent, who was in charge of teaching marketing agencies and other clients about how to best make use of Facebook’s ad-exchange, had seen his team grow to 25 people since his arrival at Facebook in 2008.
At the same time, tax authorities announced an investigation into Facebook’s French office for tax evasion, just one of the many top technology companies to be targeted in France for funneling their revenue through a European HQ in Dublin in order to minimize taxes paid. While no solid evidence has come forward to suggest that what Facebook, or any other tech multinational operating in France, has been acting illegally, the pressure from the government can be said to be disconcerting at the very least.
If Facebook is going to consider hiring from outside, they may have a little more competition than they did in 2008. Twitter is expected to open their Paris office this Spring, and while they’ve had interviews with candidates for the past 18 months, there has yet to be an announcement of any hire.