Mark Zuckerberg Conflict | Facebook's Possible China Expansion

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Zuckerberg Doesn’t Play Well with Others

9:49 am, May 12th | by Amy Tennery

It would seem Mark Zuckerberg really does have trouble seeing eye-to-eye with his cohorts. Right now he’s stuck living near one of his past spurned second-in-commands — and history (a.k.a. “The Social Network”) shows us that he’s had friction with those in similar positions in the past. We’re not saying he’s a bad guy — but he is a guy with a track record.

So it came as little surprise to us this morning when The New York Post reported that Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s COO and the Zuck’s right hand gal, are having a bit of a tiff.

The issue at hand? Whether Facebook should expand into China. Considering that Facebook hasn’t really failed at anything (that we can think of off the top of our head) yet, Zuckerberg is apparently quite confident that the site will make a splash in China:

“We have a pretty long-term perspective on this. Given our track record so far, I have confidence that we have a good shot at winning whenever it makes sense for us to enter. But we need to figure out what that is going to look like.”

But while Zuckerberg has his share of bravado, the Post is quick to point out that China’s umm, slightly uptight, approach to the internet could cause some snags.

Apparently, this is not lost on Sandberg. The Google veteran saw first hand what can happen when, you know, a country enforces stringent censorship rules on you, forcing you out of the market.

So, in the battle between the Cautious Pragmatist and the Wide-Eyed Optimist Who Has All the Control, who will win? Yea, we’re pretty much expecting Facebook China any day now.

TAGS: facebook | sheryl sandberg