Facebook Appoints Longtime Executive As Core App Head After Losing Fidji Simo To Instacart

Facebook Inc FB appointed veteran product and engineering executive Tom Alison as the head of its core social networking app, Bloomberg reports.
Alison is the fourth person to hold that role in the last four years. He succeeds Fidji Simo, who is leaving the social network to become CEO of Instacart Inc.
Alison previously had short stints running the app while Simo was on leave. He has worked on various parts of Facebook’s social network over the years, including the news feed and search products. More recently, he was in charge of Facebook’s community products, including Groups.
Simo played a pivotal role in the app’s most visible products, including Live and Watch.
Simo will succeed Instacart founder Apoorva Mehta on Aug. 2, as per the CNBC report. Mehta will transition to executive chairman of the board.
Price action: FB shares traded lower by 1.31% at $345.91 on the last check Thursday.