Changes at the top of Facebook recently made headlines with the departure of Sheryl Sandberg after 14 years as the firm's number two.
But if the founders of other technological giants like Amazon, Twitter or Google have handed over, Mark Zuckerberg has given no indication of his desire to withdraw, despite fierce controversies over the exploitation of users' private data and the widespread misinformation on the social network.
At the end of 2021, the creator of Facebook renamed the parent company "Meta", to mark the turn towards the metaverse, a parallel universe accessible in augmented and virtual reality in which, according to him, lies the future of the internet.
And for Nick Clegg, there is therefore no reason for his boss, aged only 38, to leave the company until the project has been completed.
"I would find it logical that Mark Zuckerberg wants to continue, to write this new chapter of society, and that will take very long years," Clegg told AFP on the sidelines of the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles.
"He is the founder of the company, of Meta, but he is also the architect of this new chapter, of these augmented and virtual reality technologies", he pleads.
Facebook acquired virtual reality headset maker Oculus in 2014.
This technology has seduced a large number of users in the video game industry, such as Fortnite or Roblox, but Mr. Clegg also sees great development opportunities in education and medicine.
With some 3.6 billion monthly users (people who use one of its platforms at least once a month), Meta is now valued at over $500 billion.
© 2022 AFP