Facebook global CMO Antonio Lucio to step down

Facebook global CMO Antonio Lucio to step down

He has been the CMO of Facebook since September 2018.

Antonio Lucio

New Delhi: Facebook global chief marketing officer Antonio Lucio announced via a social media post that he is stepping down from his role. Lucio has been CMO of Facebook since September 2018 and will remain in that position until September 18, 2020. Currently, he is helping the company transition through the end of the year.

Lucio said, “This has been a challenging year for all and an especially reflective year for me, following my mother’s passing before the lockdown. Given the historical inflection point we are in regarding racial justice, I have decided to dedicate 100% of my time to diversity, inclusion and equity. Though these issues have been core to my personal purpose and my work for many years, I want to make them my sole focus. I will devote the next chapter of my professional life to helping companies and agencies in the marketing and advertising industries accelerate their transformation and to drive holistic and profound change. It is a time for reckoning for our nation and industry, and it is time for me to play a more active part in accelerating change.

In leaving Facebook, I am nothing but grateful.

I believe in Facebook’s mission, and COVID has demonstrated the platforms at their best. As the company evolves, striking the right balance between preserving freedom of speech and eliminating hateful speech on the platforms is a generation-defining question that must continue to be addressed. I know the company and its leadership agree on the centrality of this important task.”

Prior to joining Facebook, Lucio served as the global chief marketing and communications officer at HP. And he also had a similar position at Visa. 

Lucio was reporting to Facebook Chief Product Officer Chris Cox. Cox recently returned to Facebook after departing from the company in March 2019. One of the biggest roles that Lucio took on was handling the negative press Facebook received following the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Lucio has over two decades of experience of working at multiple brands such as Pepsico, HP, Kraft Foods, P&G, Visa and others.