In the context of what he's suffered in the past, the current brickbats hurled at Sir Nick Clegg are relatively minor. Still, Clegg, who celebrated his 58th birthday this week, is entitled to feel sore. No, he was not booted out of his job as president of global affairs at Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp owner Meta. No, he has not made as much money as has been reported in some quarters. That's what the former deputy prime minister is telling his friends, anyway.
He'd been looking to leave Meta for some time but his departure and more particularly his replacement had to be approved by the board and that took a while. The fact that his successor is Joel Kaplan, a Republican, has fuelled the belief that the ex-Liberal Democrat leader was ditched because Mark Zuckerberg's £1.3 trillion tech behemoth is attempting to curry favour with incoming president Donald Trump. Kaplan was Clegg's deputy, and while they might hold differing political views, they are said to have got along well - indeed, Kaplan was Clegg's choice to take over.
His leaving happens to coincide too with a change of direction by Zuckerberg. The boss is ending fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram, an aspect of the business that fell under Clegg's remit and was part of the corporate push to bring credibility to the platforms and pacify regulators and campaigners. It was an expensive operation, undoubtedly a drain on resources. Even so, the shift chimes with the ascendancy of Trump along with his "first buddy" and Zuckerberg's great tech rival, Elon Musk. Doing away with the fact monitors plays directly into their free speech agenda.
It's not as if Clegg is going straight away - he is remaining with Meta for a few months. He will fly back to California again from his London home this weekend.
A finger on the US pulse
この記事は The London Standard の January 09, 2025 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は The London Standard の January 09, 2025 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Who is to blame for the lack of elite English managers?
Replacing Tuchel with a homegrown candidate will be no easy task
Who your club will sign and sell in the January market
Kolo Muani has more than one interested club in London, while there are big names unsettled and looking to move
The debt disaster threatening to leave Londoners without a drop to drink
Crisis-hit Thames Water could go under in days
Is 2025 the year of the first-time buyer?
This could be your best chance to buy a home in more than a decade here's where to look
Kick back in the Caribbean BodyHoliday, Saint Lucia
Green juices, beach workouts and supercharged facials: more and more of us are swapping piña coladas and indulgent food for a healthier, but no less glamorous, holiday.
Dishoom's Kavi Thakraron why Mumbai is his inspiration
The best street food, fantastic markets and bars where the hours just disappear...the restaurateur shares his guide
On the sauce - Adiamondis forever, after all
Double Diamond was supposedly Prince Philip’s favourite beer. He’s said to have enjoyed a bottle, nightly.
At the table - Queen of W1 expands empire with chic Italian
I understand it's not the done thing to compare restaurateurs to murderous mob bosses, given it's rude and, well, they're notoriously litigious. But when I think of Samyukta Nair, sometimes I hear Jack Nicholson's mutterings in The Departed, Martin Scorsese's Boston gangster flick. \"I don't want to be a product of my environment,\" Nichol- son says. \"I want my environment to be a product of me.\"
The Royal Academy's masterful show and mind-expanding surrealist paintings
Known for his intricate and stunning handmade tapestries, Siributr creates these vast hangings to explore his native Thailand past and present.
Review - Adrien Brody's power and depth shine in this colossal epic
The Brutalist, director Brady Corbet’s third feature, is a movie of such colossal size and scope it may well have been carved from marble; an epic paean to the immigrant experience in America in the wake of the Second World War.
