Who is Joel Kaplan? Meta's Chief Global Affairs Officer to leave in 2027 after nearly 16 years at the company

Edited By Garvit Bhirani( with inputs from Bloomberg)

Meta Platforms' Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan is set to leave the company in 2027, following the US midterm elections, a company representative has confirmed.

Kaplan, a close adviser to Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg and a prominent figure with strong Republican connections, took charge of Meta's global policy operations shortly before Donald Trump began his second presidential term in early 2025.

He joined Meta in 2011 to lead its US public policy operations. Before that, Kaplan worked on former President George W. Bush's election campaign and served in his administration. He played a key role in shaping Meta's policy approach during Trump's return to the White House.

Kaplan's departure will bring an end to his nearly 16-year stint at the social media company.

Meanwhile, Zuckerberg has increasingly relied on Dina Powell McCormick, a former Trump administration official and Goldman Sachs executive, as a senior adviser. With connections across Washington and Wall Street, Powell McCormick is now co-leading Meta Compute, where she is helping advance the company's artificial intelligence ambitions.

Her role also involves addressing wider concerns surrounding AI, particularly the extensive data centre infrastructure required to support the technology.

Joel David Kaplan is an American political adviser, lobbyist and attorney who has held senior positions in both the US government and the technology industry. He became Meta Platforms' president of global affairs in January 2025, taking over from former UK deputy prime minister Nick Clegg. Before that, he served as the company's vice president of global public policy from 2014.

A longtime Republican political operative, Kaplan spent eight years in former US President George W. Bush's administration. His roles included serving as the White House deputy chief of staff for policy.

Born in 1969, Kaplan grew up in Weston, Massachusetts. He attended Harvard University, where he was involved in student Democratic activities, including campaigning for desegregated student housing. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1991.

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