Rachel Whetstone
Rachel Marjorie Joan Whetstone is a British public relations executive. Whetstone was in charge of communications and public policy at Google for nearly a decade, and served as senior vice president of communications and public policy for Uber until April 2017. She then joined Facebook as vice president of communications of its WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger products. In August 2018, Whetstone became the chief communications officer of Netflix. As of March 2025, she oversees communications at the AI startup Sierra.
Whetstone has led communications at four of the fastest growing technology companies in history. In 2013, Whetstone was named one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4. She has been featured on PRWeek's Power List several times, most recently in 2016 at number 14.
Early life
Whetstone's maternal grandfather was Antony Fisher, founder of several libertarian think tanks, including the Institute of Economic Affairs and the Atlas Economic Research Foundation.Raised in East Sussex, Whetstone attended Benenden School and then read history at the University of Bristol.
Career
Upon graduation, Whetstone joined Conservative Central Office, advising then-Home Secretary Michael Howard. She subsequently entered the private sector, working for T-Mobile UK and Portland Communications, before returning to Westminster in 2003 as Political Secretary to Howard when he became Conservative Party leader.When Howard stood down following the general election in 2005, she returned to the private sector, joining Google in London before moving to California to lead the search engine's public policy and public relations teams.
In June 2015, Whetstone became senior vice president of policy and communications at Uber, replacing David Plouffe, who was promoted to chief adviser to the company. In April 2017, it was announced that Whetstone would be leaving Uber. She was replaced by Jill Hazelbaker, who had been Whetstone's deputy.
Recode reported in July 2017 that Whetstone would be joining Facebook in September as vice president of communications for WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger. The newly created role reported to Facebook's vice president of global communications, Caryn Marooney.
In August 2018, Whetstone joined Netflix to run public relations:
Whetstone left Netflix in October 2024, after the company combined its communications and public policy departments.
In March 2025, Whetstone joined the AI startup Sierra to oversee all communications. Axios reported that she is "tasked with positioning Sierra to disrupt the customer service space."