Facebook leadership like “Game of Thrones”, former executive claims

A former Facebook executive has likened the culture in the senior ranks of the company to “Game of Thrones.”

Speaking to CNN’s Laurie Segall in an interview aired on Sunday, ex-Facebook security boss Alex Stamos said the machinations at the higher levels of the Silicon Valley social networking giant reminded him of the HBO show, which is notorious for its political intrigue and backstabbing.

The leadership team can be reluctant to admit fault, he said, because of how long most of its top leaders have been at the company.

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“The truth is there is a bit of a Game of Thrones culture among the executives,” he said. “One of the problems about having a really tight-knit set of people making all these decisions … if you keep the same people in the same places, it’s just very difficult to admit you were wrong, right?”

Stamos, an outspoken and respected figure in the security industry, served as Facebook chief security officer between 2015 and 2018.

During his time, he reportedly clashed with COO Sheryl Sandberg including an episode where he briefed the company board about Russian intelligence operations on the social network without warning her in advance, effectively blindsiding her. He now works as a professor at Stanford University.

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