It is one of the great success stories of Silicon Valley.

The French Fidji Simo will leave Facebook, where she had climbed all the ranks and was part of the close guard of Mark Zuckerberg, to take the head of the start-up Instacart.

A nice challenge for this 35-year-old Sétoise, while the American leader in grocery delivery, whose popularity exploded in the United States during the pandemic, to reach a valuation of $ 39 billion, should soon negotiate its entry into Stock Exchange.

Fidji Simo, who joined Instacart at the end of 2020, will become CEO (general manager) on August 2, while the founder of the start-up, Apoorva Mehta, will become chairman of the board.

The latter is full of praise for the new leader: “She amazed me with her leadership skills.

Over the past decade, she has helped Facebook grow from 1,000 to 100,000 employees, and has overseen the world's most popular app.

"

Crucial role for Facebook

Because looking more closely, the one who grew up in a family of Spanish fishermen (read her excellent portrait published in 2017 by

Les Echos

) has played a crucial role in each "

 pivot

 " (change of strategic course) of Facebook. The bet of mobile advertising in 2013? It's her. Media-video push in 2015? Same. Facebook Live? Again her. So much so that she was promoted to vice-president in 2017. Two years later, Mark Zuckerberg gave her the keys to the Blue House: the one that went through HEC and that made its ranges at eBay replaces Lieutenant Chris Cox as patron of the Facebook application.

Today, while the Cac 40 companies have only one director (Catherine MacGregor, at Engie), Fidji Simo will take the head of the third largest unlisted American start-up (by capitalization).

Currently valued at $ 39 billion, Instacart wants to move to the next level with an upcoming IPO, a step that Sétoise has experienced at Facebook.

At the leader in shopping delivery, she will have to answer social questions on the limits of the gig-economy on the status of drivers, in particular.

Ambitious, she explained to the financial chain CNBC wanting to “create an agro-food ecosystem” around the Instacart app.

Mark Zuckerberg may well regret his departure.

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