Meta Platforms Snags Veteran UPS Attorney Andrew Cooper, Adds to Increasingly Dense Talent Pool

Meta Platforms Incorporated ("Meta"), formerly Facebook Incorporated, continued its unprecedented talent acquisition this month by hiring veteran United Parcel Service (UPS) Attorney and Vice President Andrew "Andy" Cooper into the Meta legal department.

Cooper is a respected patent lawyer and inventor who made history both as the first black General Counsel of UPS Airlines, the 3rd largest cargo airline in the world, and subsequently leading UPS Airlines to best Google and Amazon in achieving the world's first Federal Aviation Administration certification for a fully unmanned drone airline. Cooper also previously served as UPS's Chief IP Counsel from 2016 to 2018 and supported the development of the company's Advanced Technology Group.

Meta's move comes on the heels of recent acquisitions including Susan Epstein, a noted lecturer in Stanford's Computer Science Department, as well as David Bowman, an 18-year veteran and Partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius to lead Meta's employment investigations. Both Epstein and Bowman have taken up Associate General Counsel posts with the social media giant.

Cooper's legal and regulatory experience deploying autonomous solutions only further underscores Meta's seriousness in shaping a future world where AI, machine learning, virtual reality (VR), and everyday social interactions intersect through mobile devices, personal computers, and VR headsets, wearables, and in-home devices.

To be sure, Meta already provides innovative solutions that enable interpersonal connections across platforms. But the real story underpinning Meta's innovation is the pace and technical ability of the talent being warehoused across its organization to accomplish this goal. In the last several years, particularly in the Atlanta market, Meta's talent presence has grown substantially. While it's no secret that Meta historically hires engineers of all types at a pace rarely seen in the tech industry, Meta's efforts to grab talent in other spaces like legal, finance and privacy have largely gone unnoticed, until now. Meta's latest moves suggest it is developing an unmatched talent density in the "non-engineering" workforce that is sure to produce amazing results in the years ahead.

Cooper's portfolio at Meta will include Strategic Transactions and M&A (mergers and acquisitions), IP licensing, and Open Source; key areas that will undoubtedly include high-impact deals that are strategically important to the future of the company and potentially broader society.

May 12, 2022