Julian David Wheatland (born 1961) is a British businessman and Conservative Party (UK) politician known for his involvement with the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal.

Julian David Wheatland
BornJuly 1961[1]
Occupation(s)CEO of Cornerstone FS Plc; formerly chairman of SCL Group and CEO of Cambridge Analytica; former director of  Emerdata

He was chairman of SCL Group, a self-described "behavioral research and strategic communication company" and was the last CEO of Cambridge Analytica,[2] having previously been its COO and CFO, Wheatland took over as CEO in April 2018, in order to wind it down and place the company into bankruptcy.[3] He was also CEO of Hatton International, a technology and finance advisory business. He was featured in the Netflix documentary The Great Hack.[4][5] Wheatland was mentioned in Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons as an example of ties between Cambridge Analytica and the Conservative Party (UK); he is a former chairman of the Oxford West and Abingdon Conservative Association.[6][7][8][9][10] Wheatland was also a director of related firms following the downfall of Cambridge Analytica, including a director of Emerdata, the parent company of Cambridge Analytica prior to its collapse.[11][12]

The Times reported in 2020 that Wheatland was returning to the city as chief executive of Cornerstone FS Plc which acquired FXPress Payment Services Ltd, a foreign exchange and payment services company, in September 2020.[13] In July 2022, Wheatland stepped down from the role.[14]

References

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  1. ^ Companies House
  2. ^ Hagey, Rebecca Ballhaus and Keach (April 11, 2018). "Cambridge Analytica CEO Post Goes to Julian Wheatland". The Wall Street Journal.
  3. ^ Perspectives, Julian Wheatland for CNN Business (19 August 2019). "Opinion: I was a top executive at Cambridge Analytica. It taught me a tough lesson about public trust". CNN. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  4. ^ Johnson, Eric (July 31, 2019). "Cambridge Analytica made "ethical mistakes" because it was too focused on regulation, former COO says". Vox.
  5. ^ "The Great Hack: the film that goes behind the scenes of the Facebook data scandal". the Guardian. July 20, 2019.
  6. ^ Payne, Adam. "Theresa May dodges question on Conservative Party links to Cambridge Analytica". Business Insider.
  7. ^ "Who is the man set to be Cambridge Analytica's new boss?". April 14, 2018.
  8. ^ Bernal, Natasha (August 7, 2019). "The man that killed Cambridge Analytica: 'We made mistakes, but they aren't what you think'". The Telegraph – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  9. ^ Titcomb, James (May 3, 2018). "Cambridge Analytica bosses quietly set up new companies". The Telegraph – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  10. ^ "Correction: Julian Wheatland". The Financial Times.
  11. ^ "Cambridge Analytica founders behind new London-based data processing company". thisisoxfordshire. 21 March 2018.
  12. ^ Pasternack and Jesse Witt, Alex (July 26, 2019). "The strange afterlife of Cambridge Analytica and the mysterious fate of its data". Fast Company.
  13. ^ Howard, Tom. "City return for ex-boss of disgraced firm Cambridge Analytica". The Times..
  14. ^ Willoughby, Tom (2022-07-12). "CEO Julian Wheatland steps down from role". Cornerstone FS. Retrieved 2022-09-26.