The head of Meta in India, Ajit Mohan departed from his firm to join Snap, according to some reports. He will serve the company as its President for the Asia Pacific (APAC) business region.
The move was confirmed by two sources. One was when Ajit Mohan changed his LinkedIn profile and the second was announced by the company’s Chief Executive, Evan Spiegel.
Now, Ajit will look after businesses in nine countries – India, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Korea markets.
“Ajit will provide in-market leadership, lead cross-functional efforts across the region, oversee local operations, and lead our go-to-market strategy. He’s a talented leader with a breadth of experience that will serve our community and partners in wonderful ways,” Spiegel said.
Ajit had served Facebook parent Meta as its head in India for over four years to join the company’s rival, Snap Inc. He will be succeeded by Manish Chopra, director and head of partnerships at Meta India.
Under his rule, Meta platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram prospered over the years. The platforms added over 300 million users in India, made a sequel of ambitious assets in the country, including cutting a $5.7 billion check to Indian telecom giant Jio Platforms, and ramped up the marketing engine of WhatsApp.
The company also conceptualized and utilized India as the test market to create a range of services, including Reels. Facebook grew its earnings in India by more than 70%, to $2.1 billion, in the financial year that terminated in March.
Moneycontrol reported that Mohan has resigned from Facebook parent Meta after a nearly four-year term. The departure was sudden and the workers are still in a state of surprise, sources said.
“Over the last four years, he (Ajit Mohan) has played an important role in shaping and scaling our India operations,” Nicola Mendelsohn, Vice President, of Global Business Group at Meta said in a statement.
“We remain deeply committed to India and have a strong leadership team in place to carry on all our work and partnerships,” he added.
Ajit Mohan is a technology executive who served as the vice president and managing director of Meta India. He was also the founding CEO of streaming platform Star’s India Hotstar. Ajit was born in Kochi. He is also a member of the Internet and Mobile Association of India and the Museum of Art and Photography, later selected as the President of the Internet and Mobile Association of India.
