Well, that’s one way for Facebook to get a quick leg up in Washington: The New York Times‘ Andrew Ross Sorkin reports that Facebook is lobbying former Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs hard to take a job as a top corporate communications manager with the social media juggernaut.
While Gibbs has always had his eye on a job in the private sector following his stint as press secretary, he reportedly wanted to help set up Obama’s reelection campaign first. However, Facebook is said to be pushing hard to get him onboard sooner. Why? The company’s plans to go public may have something to do with it:
A job for Mr. Gibbs at Facebook could be worth millions of dollars. While details of his potential compensation package have yet to be discussed, people briefed on the talks said that he would receive a cash salary as well as shares ahead of the initial offering. Facebook is being valued by some investors at more than $60 billion and could be the largest offering in history.
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Facebook is increasingly in the public eye and is looking to build its communications team ahead of an initial offering.
But Facebook is far from putting all of its Washington eggs in one basket: The company has hired two top lobbying firms that target Democrats and Republicans, respectively, in a bid to manage lawmakers on both sides of the aisle as regulatory interest in Facebook grows.
(via NYT)
