Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan to be Facebook India chief

Mohan will be responsible for aligning of teams, overall strategy in this country and driving Facebook’s investments in India

>Star India’s Ajit Mohan, bottom, left, will be joining Facebook India as the new managing director (MD) and vice-president. He will join in early 2019.

Mohan was among the many executives in the media and consumer goods segments who had been approached for the job by the social media and networking service company.

Others reportedly approached include Star India MD Sanjay Gupta, Viacom18’s MD-designate Sudhanshu Vats and HUL's Sudhir Sitapati.

This is a new structure for Facebook India, of having a senior reporting to the US global headquarters, not the Asia-Pacific (APAC) one.

Mohan will be responsible for aligning of teams, overall strategy in this country and driving Facebook’s investments here.

“India is one of the largest and most strategically important countries for Facebook...investment in India is critical. Ajit’s depth of experience will help us to continue to have a positive impact across communities, organisations, businesses and with policy makers,” said David Fischer, vice-president of business and marketing partnerships, Facebook Inc.

“It is a unique opportunity to shape the agenda of a company that has brought the world closer together, in one of the most exciting markets in the world,” said Mohan.

He joins Facebook from Hotstar, Star India’s over-the-top service entity, where he was chief executive officer.

He helped launched and build Hotstar into one of the leading premium video streaming platforms in the country.

Mohan earlier was at McKinsey and Company’s New York office, where he worked with media companies around the globe.

And, served as a Fellow at the McKinsey Global Institute, where he focused on India's rapid urbanisation.

He is a graduate of the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Last year, Umang Bedi, then Facebook India MD, exited the company after only 16 months at the helm.

Facebook's top management in India used to report to the APAC leadership until now.

Since Bedi's exit, Facebook has been through a storm globally and in India, following huge data privacy concerns across their platform and service portfolio, including messaging app WhatsApp.

Photograph: Dado Ruvic/Reuters