Two top executives, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Yammer CEO David Sacks, have dropped out of the political advocacy group co-founded by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, FWD.us, according to reports.
The departures come after Zuckerberg’s advocacy group sparked an outcry from liberal and progressive groups this week for funding political TV ads that praised lawmakers for supporting the controversial Keystone XL pipeline and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
FWD.us, which was co-founded by other high-profile tech executives, had funded groups that were responsible for running the TV ads. The controversial ads sparked protests by a coalition of environmental and progressive groups, including MoveOn.org, CREDO, the Sierra Club and the League of Conservative Voters.
This week, the groups announced plans to pull their Facebook ads, or withhold purchasing new ones, for at least two weeks to protest the ads.
FWD.us, which is set up as a 501(c)(4) organization, is currently focusing its efforts on pushing for comprehensive immigration reform.