CalSTRS CIO Joins #DeleteFacebook Movement, Axing His Page

(Bloomberg) -- The California State Teachers' Retirement System Chief Investment Officer Christopher Ailman has a new investment -- personally at least -- and it's in the campaign to #DeleteFacebook. The executive tweeted his support last night, claiming he removed his account due to the “offensive” lack of oversight and poor management at Facebook Inc.

Ailman's tweet comes just after the social network CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a media briefing Wednesday that its crises, including #DeleteFacebook, are not meaningfully affecting the business.

"It was a personal decision and has nothing to do with the investment portfolio," Ailman said in an email Thursday.

Menlo Park, California-based Facebook is embroiled in a scandal in which the data of up to 87 million users may have been compromised in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. Shares have declined 15 percent since mid-March, when news first broke of the situation. Ailman's tweet marks the first time an investing figure of this stature has voiced participation in the #DeleteFacebook movement.

But it's not the first time Ailman has been critical of Facebook. In 2014, he pushed the company to bring more women on to its board, saying there were "too many ugly white guys on boards."

CalSTRS owned approximately 4.1 million shares of Facebook as of Dec. 31. “We are an active shareowner,” Michelle Mussuto, a spokeswoman for CalSTRS, said in comment to Bloomberg News. California Public Employees' Retirement System held 5.6 million shares, collectively making California the 33rd biggest holder of the stock, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Even though Ailman deleted his account, CalSTRS appears to have no such problems with Facebook. It still maintains a page on the social network.

--With assistance from Kate Smith

To contact the reporter on this story: Hannah Levitt in New York at hlevitt@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Arie Shapira at ashapira3@bloomberg.net, Brad Olesen, Alan Mirabella

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.