Chris Cox (Facebook)

Christopher Cox

Chris Cox of Facebook
Born 1981/1982 (age 29–30)[1]
Education Stanford University
Occupation VP of Product, Facebook

Christopher Cox is Vice President of Product at Facebook, where he serves as chief of staff to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on product development.[1] Cox manages the teams of Facebook programmers and designers responsible for new features and products such as Facebook Places and Facebook Groups.[1] In his role, he also comments on topics pertaining to the company, such as its focus, privacy and product directions.[2]

Cox received a bachelor's degree in symbolic systems with a concentration in artificial intelligence from Stanford University, which he attended from 2001 to 2004.[3] He dropped out of a graduate degree program to join Facebook in 2005.[1] Cox started as a software engineer and worked on the website's News Feed and Inbox features. Afterward, he was promoted to the position of Director of Human Resources[4] and then promoted to his current position as Vice President of Product. Even though Cox is no longer Facebook's HR director, all new Facebook employees meet with him for an hour on their first day on the job.[1]

Business Insider called Cox “a triple threat -- an engineer who can build company-defining products, an operator who can recruit and manage good people, and a long-term strategic thinker,” and named Cox number 2 on its list of 10 Rock Star Tech Execs You’ve Never Heard Of.[5] He is also known for his focus on bringing people and technology together. “Technology does not need to estrange us from one another,” Cox told Wired. “The physical reality comes alive with the human stories we have told there.”[6]

Cox envisions a future in which what your friends recommend on social networks plays a bigger role in what you buy, do, or watch on TV. He told The Wall Street Journal that he believes there will be a time “when you turn on the TV, and you see what your mom and friends are watching, and they can record stuff for you. Instead of 999 channels, you will see 999 recommendations from your friends."[1]

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