Fidji Simo

Fidji Simo (born 5 October 1985)^[1] is a French-American^[2] businessperson and the CEO and Chair of Instacart.^[3] Prior to taking that position, she was head of the Facebook app at Facebook, and Vice President of Video, Games, and Monetization.^[4] She co-founded The Metrodora Institute, a health clinic and research institute, and is currently president of The Metrodora Foundation.

Personal life and education

Simo grew up in Sète, in the south of France, and now lives in California.^[1][5] She was the first member of her family to graduate from high school, and holds a master of management degree from HEC Paris.^[1][5] She spent the last year of her program at UCLA's Anderson School of Business.^[5]

In October 2021, Simo co-founded the Metrodora Institute, a health clinic and research institute. Simo is now the President of the Metrodora Foundation. The Metrodora Institute is focused on treating patients with neuroimmune conditions.^[6]

Simo is married to Remy Miralles and has a daughter.^[7]

Career

eBay

Simo worked at eBay from 2007 to 2011 as part of the strategy team.^[1][5] While at eBay, she built out the company’s local commerce and classified-advertising initiatives.^[1]

Facebook

Prior to joining Instacart, Simo was the Vice President and Head of the Facebook app.^[5] Over the course of her decade at Facebook, she oversaw the development and strategy for the Facebook app, including News Feed, Stories, Groups, Video, Marketplace, Gaming, News, Dating, Ads and more. She also led the team in charge of architecting Facebook’s advertising business and monetizing mobile.^[1] She made video a critical part of the Facebook experience, from rolling out videos that autoplay in News Feed, to building and launching Facebook Live and Facebook Watch.^[5][1] Simo joined Facebook from eBay in 2011.

Instacart

Simo joined Instacart’s board of directors in January 2021, and was appointed as the company’s CEO in July.^[5][8] She started in the new role in August, replacing Apoorva Mehta, who became the executive chairman of the board.^[9][5]

In September 2023, Instacart appointed Simo to succeed Apoorva Mehta as the Board Chair following the company's public debut initial public offering.^[10]

Metrodora

Simo is the founder of Metrodora Institute and President of the Metrodora Foundation. The institute opened its doors in April 2023 in Salt Lake City, Utah.^[11]

The Institute “aims to accelerate cures for neuroimmune disorders by reimagining how patients are treated, and how they participate in research.”^[12] The Institute has $35 million from an undisclosed venture investor.^[12] The Institute both conducts research and treats patients. It has a particular interest in interdisciplinary work, breaking apart the silos of current medical practice.

The Metrodora Institute welcomes those suffering from diseases that many doctors fail to diagnose, and often do not know how to treat.^[13]

Simo was motivated to start this medical venture by her own experience.^[13]

The name of the institute is from ancient Greece: “Metrodora was a Greek physician who wrote a medical text, most likely titled “On Women's Diseases,” in the late fifth century C.E., which is thought to be the oldest surviving medical text by a woman.”^[14]

Other activities

Simo co-founded Women in Product, a nonprofit organization for women in product management.^[5][15] The organization works to advance the careers of women in technology and advocates for equal representation in the workplace.^[5] Previously Simo was on the boards of the L.A. Dance Project and Cirque du Soleil.^[16][17]

In December 2021, Simo joined Shopify's board of directors.^[18] In March 2024, she joined OpenAI's board of directors.^[19]

Recognition

Simo has been recognized by Fortune as part of their annual Most Powerful Women List (2023), 13 Innovators Shaping the Future of Health List (2023), and 40 under 40 List (2021 & 2016).^[20][21][22] She has also been featured on Comparably’s list of Best Company CEOs (2023), Fast Company’s list of Most Creative People in Business, AdWeek’s list of the top 15 people shaping the future of mobile advertising, and was ranked 10th most influential French person in the world by Vanity Fair.^[23][24][25] In 2024, listed as one of the inaugural CNBC Changemakers, Women in Leadership transforming business^[26]

References