Chris Cox (Facebook)


Christopher Cox is a computer scientist and the chief product officer at Facebook. He served as chief of staff to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on product development and was responsible for its "family of apps": Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger. Cox stepped down as Chief Product Officer at Facebook in 2019 as the company aimed for new leadership as part of its new direction towards an encrypted, integrated messaging network. He returned to Facebook in the same position in June 2020.

Early life and education

Cox was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and raised in Winnetka, Illinois. He is the youngest of three children. He attended New Trier High School where he played in the jazz band. Cox attended Stanford University, where he received a bachelor's degree in 2003 in symbolic systems with a concentration in artificial intelligence. He dropped out of the natural language processing group and his graduate degree program at Stanford to join Facebook in 2005.

Career

Cox joined Facebook in 2005 as one of its first 15 software engineers, where he was instrumental in designing and building first versions of key Facebook features including News Feed. He then became Director of Human Resources, building out Facebook's HR and recruiting programs and leading the process of defining the company's mission and values. In 2008, he became the Vice President of Product, where he built Facebook's product management and design teams, before being promoted to Chief Product Officer in 2014.
In May 2018, he was put in charge of its apps: Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, to set up better integration for shared services like integrity and infrastructure, while setting a strategy for better differentiation in their product portfolios.
At the age of 28, Cox was listed on the Forbes 40 Under 40 list, as well as Fast Company's list of "Most Creative People in Business". In 2015, Forbes described him as "The Most Important Executive In Silicon Valley That No One Is Talking About".
In March 2019, Cox announced that he was leaving Facebook. He returned to the company in June 2020, saying "I’ve been away just over a year but it’s a different world now.“It’s also the place I know best, and the best place for me to roll up my sleeves and dig in to help."
On June 12, 2020 it was announced that Cox would be returning to Facebook as their Chief Product Officer.

Personal life

Cox married a fellow Stanford University grad and movie director, Visra Vichit-Vadakan in 2010. The couple have a son and a daughter, together they live in California. Vichit-Vadakan is the granddaughter of Luang Wichitwathakan, a Thai politician, historian, novelist and playwright.

Politics

Cox is an advisor to Acronym, a progressive nonprofit organization.