Meta’s longtime policy chief Joel Kaplan to depart, successors to assume duties by 2027

After more than 15 years shaping Meta’s policy strategy, Joel Kaplan will leave the company in 2027 following a transition period that includes the U.S. midterm elections. Kaplan arrived at Meta in 2011 to build its U.S. public policy operation and later assumed global policy responsibilities during the lead-up to President Donald Trump's early-2025 White House return. In his farewell, Mark Zuckerberg praised Kaplan’s role in creating a playbook for the platform’s worldwide availability.

The transition will see Dina Powell McCormick add external affairs to her duties as president and vice chairman, while also co-leading Meta Compute. Brian Rice, a former aide to Secretary of State John Kerry, will head U.S. government affairs, and Tucker Bounds, who previously represented the late Senator John McCain, will become global head of communications and public affairs.