Meta India head Ajit Mohan resigned to join rival Snap

According to sources with direct understanding of the situation, Ajit Mohan, the head of Meta in India, has agreed to join rival Snap to lead the Asia Pacific region for the social media firm, right after leaving Meta. According to the sources, Mohan will lead Snap's APAC business as president as per his LinkedIn post.

According to sources, Mohan's resignation was sudden and unexpected because a meeting that was scheduled for Thursday was called off in response to his announcement. In addition to shocking its workforce, Meta's high-profile departure from its biggest market has created a buzz in the media and advertising industry.

His resignation came just one week after Facebook India reported a staggering 74% increase in gross ad income for FY22, from Rs 9,326 crore the year before to Rs 16,189 crore. The company, which owns platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram, saw a 132% increase in net profit to Rs 297 crore. 

During Mohan's four-year tenure, Meta's revenue increased roughly 2.6 times, from Rs 890 crore in FY19 to Rs 2,300 crore in FY22. In the same time frame, profit increased by more than four times, from Rs 65 crore to Rs 297 crore. A $5.7 billion investment was made in Jio Platforms and Meesho as part of a series of Meta investments he led in India.

The company's global success stands in stark contrast to Meta's tremendous growth in India. In just a year, its market capitalization has dropped by close to $730 billion. Early this week, the company reported a 4% decline in third-quarter global revenue to $27.7 billion from $29 billion a year earlier. Net profits fell by 52% from a year earlier to $4.4 billion.

“Thank you for everything you did for us here at Meta, Ajit! Wishing you great success at Snap! They are very lucky to have you and I'm sure you will do wonders at Snap too!,” Rajan Kuppan, Enterprise Operations Manager at Meta, the Enterprise Operations Manager at Meta, left a comment on Mohan's LinkedIn post.

As the Managing Director and Vice-President, a position specifically created for him, Ajit Mohan joined Facebook India in January 2019. Additionally, Mohan was the first India chief to directly report to the company’s headquarters in Menlo Park, US.  His predecessors reported to the Asia Pacific office of Meta. Before joining Meta, Mohan is also credited with launching and building Hotstar into India's top premium video streaming platform.

Mohan, an alumnus of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University, earlier worked with media companies all around the world at McKinsey and its New York headquarters. Additionally, he worked as a Fellow at the McKinsey Global Institute, where he focused on the rapid urbanisation of India.