Rachel Whetstone | Influence 100
rachel-whetstone-2018-influence-100

Rachel Whetstone

VP Communications
Facebook
US

 

Rachel Whetstone is no stranger to weathering the highest order of comms controversies. Since joining Facebook a year ago to lead communications for its WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger products, the social platform has been under big-league scrutiny, including into its role in the 2016 presidential election and the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. 

Before joining Facebook, Whetstone led comms and policy for Uber, a job she left after a series of hits according to Recode — investors blaming bad press for Uber’s woes and tension between Whetstone and then-CEO Travis Kalanick among them. Before that, she was director of corporate communications at Google as it was embroiled in a battle with the EU at the time over limiting the power of its services. Before making the leap to PR, Whetstone, well known for being as forceful as she is tough-talking, was a player in British politics, serving as former Conservative party leader Michael Howard’s chief of staff.