Facebook named David Ebersman chief financial officer, tapping a former Genentech executive to help manage the world’s most popular social-networking site’s growth.

Ebersman, 39, will oversee Facebook’s finance, accounting, investor relations and real estate functions. He will formally start in September, Palo Alto, Calif.-based Facebook said in a statement yesterday.

Closely held Facebook, with more than 200 million users worldwide, said in March it was looking for a finance chief with experience running a public company. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, a Harvard University dropout, has hired other managers from public companies, including former Google Inc. executive Sheryl Sandberg.