Vermeer's Rowsell: Why it is time to unfriend Facebook

Concerns over privacy scandal

Laura Dew
clock • 2 min read

James Rowsell, chief executive at Vermeer Investment Management, has sold his stake in Facebook on concerns surrounding the privacy storm with Cambridge Analytica.

Rowsell, who co-founded Vermeer with Tim Gregory in 2016, said the Vermeer Global fund held 1.3% in the social media giant before selling out last month. Cambridge Analytica, which has now closed, is alleged to have mined the personal data of 50 million Facebook users to create profiles and target them in the US election campaign in 2016, which was won by Donald Trump. Facebook shares dive 7% amid data misuse claims As a result, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had to testify in front of Congress over how the firm was handling its users' data and privacy. Zuckerberg apologised f...

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