Cambridge Analytica suspends CEO amid Facebook data leak uproar

Channel 4 News

• The CEO of Cambridge Analytica, the political-research company at the center of a massive Facebook-data scandal, was suspended on Tuesday.
• The company's board said CEO Alexander Nix would remain suspended pending a "full, independent investigation" of his involvement in allegedly entrapping politicians.

Alexander Nix, the CEO of Cambridge Analytica, the political-research company at the center of a massive Facebook-data scandal, has been secretly filmed offering shadowy services to entrap politicians.

"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 board wrote in a Tuesday statement.

An undercover Channel 4 News reporter filmed Nix and his colleagues over four meetings from November to January. The journalist posed as a fixer for a wealthy client hoping to get candidates elected in Sri Lanka.

The bombshell footage, broadcast Monday as part of an investigation by Channel 4 News, comes days after Facebook suspended Cambridge Analytica over an incident involving its harvesting of data from 50 million profiles.

The board said it is launching an investigation into Nix's alleged wrongdoing and will make the conclusions of the investigation public.

Alexander Tayler will serve as acting CEO, the board said.

This is a developing story.

Jake Kanter contributed to this report.