Facebook hires former Genentech exec as CFO

Facebook today announced the hiring of David Ebersman, the former executive vice president and chief financial officer (CFO) of Genentech, as the company's chief financial officer. He won't join the company until September. (Techmeme)

Back in March, the company started the search for a new CFO before it even announced that former CFO Gideon Yu left the company. His departure was reportedly tied to a "strained relationship" with company CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Yu was with the company for less than two years.

At the time, the company said it was initially looking for a CFO with more public company experience - a hint that it may soon be talking about an IPO. Later, an internal company memo that appeared on the Boomtown blog noted that Yu wanted to spend more time with his family.

Ebersman was with Genentech for nearly 15 years, serving as the company's executive vice president and CFO from 2006 through April 2009, when it was acquired by Roche Group (which has a CFO already.) In the company's press release, Zuckerberg said:

We received a lot of interest in the CFO position and had the opportunity to meet with many impressive candidates. We quickly recognized that David was the right person for Facebook. He was Genentech's CFO while revenue tripled, and his success in scaling the finance organization of a fast growing company will be important to Facebook.

He will report directly to Zuckerberg and will "oversee Facebook’s finance, accounting, investor relations, and real estate functions. He also becomes a part of the company’s executive management team, which directs all aspects of company strategy, planning and operations," according to the company.