Facebook CFO Exiting on Heels of Strong $2.5 Billion Quarter

Both revenue and earnings top Wall Street estimates

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Facebook Chief Financial Officer David Ebersman is exiting the social media giant later this year, and will be succeeded by David Wehner. Facebook announced the change in its earnings report for the first quarter of fiscal year 2014.

Ebersman departs as Facebook continues to please Wall Street. It reported earnings per share of $0.34 on a non-GAAP basis, exceeding analysts’ expectations of $0.24. The company reported revenue of $2.5 billion, a slight drop from the last quarter but an increase of 72 percent from the year before.

Mobile is central to that growth, as Facebook now generates 59 percent of its advertising revenue from mobile devices. Overall, revenue from advertising was $2.27 billion, up 82 percent year-over-year.

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“Facebook’s business is strong and growing, and this quarter was a great start to 2014,” Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and chief executive officer, said in the earnings release. “We’ve made some long term bets on the future while staying focused on executing and improving our core products and business. We’re in great position to continue making progress towards our mission.”

On Ebersman’s exit and succession plan, Zuckerberg added: “David has been a great partner in building Facebook, and I’m grateful for everything he’s done to help make the world more open and connected. David set us up to operate efficiently and make the long term investments we need, and built an incredibly strong team including Dave Wehner, our next CFO. I look forward to working with Dave in his new role.”

“This has been a tough decision because Facebook is such a great company and has such a bright future ahead, but I’ve decided to move back into healthcare where I spent my career before Facebook,” Ebersman said. “It’s been a privilege working at Facebook and being part of such a great team. We have an incredibly talented finance organization, and I have complete confidence in Dave Wehner and his ability to lead the team going forward.”

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On the subsequent earnings call, Zuckerberg touted his excitement for request acquisition WhatsApp, while simultaneously celebrating the strong financial news and lamenting the loss of Ebersman.

Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg echoed those sentiments. Both executives expressed enthusiasm and support for Wehner.

Ebersman said his goodbyes before going over the numerical data one last time.

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