The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Mike Murphy is stepping down as head of advertising sales at Facebook, leaving a major position vacant in the company at a time when it is facing increased competition for social media advertising dollars from Twitter and other sites.
Murphy joined the company five years ago, and is responsible for Facebook’s media strategy and advertising sales, as well as managing accounts with the social network’s customers. The company announced that Murphy will be leaving in December to spend more time with his family. In an interview with BoomTown that was referenced by All Things D, Murphy said the grind of doing sales non-stop was a heavy burden.
“For the last five years of hyper-growth here, I have been focused on Facebook,” said Murphy. “Now, I felt it was time to shift that focus to my family.”