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Senior Facebook executive Matt Cohler will be leaving the social networking company to join Benchmark Capital this fall as a general partner, the venture capital firm announced today.

Cohler, 31 joined Facebook in early 2005 and was one of the first five people hired by the company's founders. He currently is the vice president of product management at Facebook.

Cohler will still have ties with Facebook, acting as a special advisor to Facebook's founder and chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg and to its senior management team.

"Matt is a valuable member of our team and one of our earliest executives. He has been an important contributor to Facebook's growth and success and we are pleased he will continue working in a formal role as a special advisor to me and the Facebook management team," Zuckerberg said.

At Facebook, Cohler helped drive the company's strategy, organizational growth and product direction. Previously he was vice president and general manager at the business social networking site LinkedIN, which he helped to found.

"It is difficult to leave my full-time role at Facebook, but Benchmark provides an extraordinary opportunity to build on my experience helping great entrepreneurs and to work side-by-side with some of the best investors, technologists and strategists I have ever known," said Cohler. "The values, investment philosophy and unique team structure at Benchmark are an ideal fit for me.