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Ullyot, T

Ullyot

Ullyot has had some amazing legal jobs over the years: law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia, partner at Kirkland & Ellis, associate White House counsel, general counsel for AOL Time Warner Europe, and GC of Facebook. Where is he headed next?

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MAY 26, 2011, 9:43 AM

Facebook Taps Joel Kaplan to Head Washington Office

By EVELYN M. RUSLI and PETER LATTMAN

In an effort to expand its power base in the nation’s capital, Facebook has hired Joel Kaplan, an executive vice president at the Texas utility giant Energy Future Holdings, to head the company’s office in Washington.

It is a significant coup for the fast-growing social network, which is seeking to increase its influence among policy makers and lawmakers.

Over the last few years, Facebook has started to fill its ranks with executives with deep ties to Washington. Its current chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, was a former chief of staff to a Treasury secretary during the Clinton administration. And its general counsel, Ted Ullyot, was a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

With the addition of Mr. Kaplan, a former member of President George W. Bush’s White House staff, Facebook will likely strengthen its ties to Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

“It’s imperative that we scale our policy team so that we have the resources in place to demonstrate to policy makers that we are industry leaders in privacy, data security and safety,” Facebook said in a statement on Thursday.

In some ways, Mr. Kaplan’s move from the private-equity-owned Energy Future Holdings, formerly TXU, symbolizes the emergence of social media as the new “new thing.”

It also shows how Silicon Valley and venture capital have re-established themselves as the hottest movers in the deal world, while the private equity industry has lost some of its luster.

When Mr. Kaplan left the Bush administration, he took a job working for private equity firms at Energy Future Holdings. In 2007, at the market peak, a group including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company, TPG Capital and Goldman Sachs paid $44 billion for the company.

Today, those private equity firms are sitting on billions of dollars of losses. Energy Future Holdings has struggled with persistently low natural gas prices and a heavy debt burden. The promise of an initial public offering for the company has been put off indefinitely.

As the staid Texas utility has suffered, Facebook, arguably the hottest company in America, has grown at a breakneck pace, and an I.P.O. is expected next year.

Mr. Kaplan served as the deputy chief of staff in the George W. Bush White House, helping to manage the administration’s policy agenda. At Energy Future Holdings, Mr. Kaplan was responsible for handling the company’s public policy and external affairs.

Facebook also announced on Thursday that it had hired Myriah Jordan, who recently served as general counsel to Senator Richard Burr, Republican of North Carolina.

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Theodore W. Ullyot[2] is an American lawyer and former government official. He served as Facebook's General Counsel from September 2008, when he was hired as its inaugural General Counsel, until July 2013. Colin Stretch, who had served as Deputy General Counsel under Ullyot, replaced him.[3]

Education and career

Ullyot graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1990. He studied at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris from 1990 through 1991. Ullyot attended theUniversity of Chicago Law School, receiving a J.D. with honors in 1994.[4] After graduation he clerked for :{:{U.S. Supreme Court:(style="background-color:#fff200"):}::(style="color:#000000"):}: Justice :{:{Antonin Scalia:(style="background-color:#fff200"):}::(style="color:#000000"):}: and :{:{4th Circuit Court of Appeals:(style="background-color:#fff200"):}::(style="color:#000000"):}: Judge :{:{J. Michael Luttig:(style="background-color:#fff200"):}::(style="color:#000000"):}:.[1]

Ullyot was a partner at the law firm :{:{Kirkland & Ellis:(style="background-color:#fff200"):}::(style="color:#000000"):}: in :{:{Washington, D.C.:(style="background-color:#fff200"):}::(style="color:#000000"):}:, specializing in :{:{telecommunications:(style="background-color:#fff200"):}::(style="color:#000000"):}: and :{:{appellate law:(style="background-color:#fff200"):}::(style="color:#000000"):}:. In October 2000, Ullyot joined the legal department of America Online. After the merger of AOL and Time Warner, he worked for AOL Time Warner from January 2001 to January 2003. After starting in New York as vice president and associate general counsel of AOL Time Warner, he was appointed senior vice president and general counsel for AOL Time Warner Europe in January 2002.[4][5]

From January 2003 to January 2005, Ullyot worked in the White House as associate counsel and as a deputy assistant to President George W. Bush. He then served as chief of staff to U.S. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. In October 2005, he joined ESL Investments, Inc. as executive vice president and general counsel. Ullyot then returned to Kirkland & Ellis. He has served on the board of directors for AutoZone, Inc. since December 2006.[5]

In September 2008, Ullyot was hired as Facebook's inaugural general counsel. At the time, the site had more than 100 million members and was valued at $15 billion.[6] Ullyot was tasked with addressing the complicated privacy issues that Facebook faces due to its wealth of user data.[7] In the ensuing years, Ullyot advised Facebook through litigation involving the :{Winklevoss twins:(style="background-color:#fff200"):}:, a patent battle with :{Yahoo! Inc.:(style="background-color:#fff200"):}:, and the controversy surrounding its May 2012 :{initial public offering:(style="background-color:#fff200"):}:.

Ullyot engineered Facebook's negotiations for a cy pres award on allegations that Facebook violated Federal privacy statues in 2007. In a cy pres award plaintiff counsels for the class action suit are paid before any funds for damages are distributed to the plaintiffs members of the class. With this structure Facebook limited cash liability significantly and members of the class will likely receive nothing.

As of May 2013, Ullyot is leaving his post after five years with Facebook. Ullyot has not announced any future plans.[8]

References

  1. ^ :{Jump up to::(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^a b(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Ullyot#cite_ref-WSJ_1-1) Slater, Dan (September 28, 2008). "Facebook Sends Ted Ullyot A Friend Request". Wall Street Journal.
  2. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "Theodore W. Ullyot". Forbes.com. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
  3. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "Facebook names Colin Stretch Vice President and General Counsel". Facebook Newsroom. 20 June 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  4. ^ :{Jump up to::(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^a b(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Ullyot#cite_ref-AOL_2002_4-1) "AOL Time Warner Names Theodore W. Ullyot Senior Vice President and General Counsel for AOL Time Warner Europe". Business Wire. January 18, 2002.
  5. ^ :{Jump up to::(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^a b(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Ullyot#cite_ref-AutoZone_5-1) "Investor Relations: Theodore W. Ullyot". AutoZone, Inc.
  6. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ Guynn, Jessica (September 29, 2008). "Facebook hires general counsel as it continues to grow". Los Angeles Times.
  7. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ Smith, Justin (September 29, 2008). "Facebook hires general counsel as it continues to grow". InsideFacebook.com.
  8. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-webkit-user-select:none"):}:^ "Inside Counsel: Ted Ullyot steps down as Facebook GC". Inside Counsel.