REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
The board of Cambridge Analytica has suspended CEO Alexander Nix with “immediate effect, pending a full, independent investigation,” according to a statement from the company. “In the view of the Board, Mr. Nix’s recent comments secretly recorded by Channel 4 and other allegations do not represent the values or operations of the firm and his suspension reflects the seriousness with which we view this violation,” the statement said. Nix was caught on camera boasting to an undercover reporter about his company’s ability to blackmail politicians. Dr. Alexander Tayle will serve as CEO in Nix’s place, and London barrister Julian Malins will lead the investigation, the company announced. This comes as a former Cambridge Analytica employee told The New York Times that the firm used the personal Facebook data of “50 million users without their permission.”