Sheryl Sandberg, the No. 2 executive at Facebook is stepping down from her role as Chief Operating Officer
Sandberg has served as chief operating officer at Facebook for 14 years. She joined from Google in 2008, four years before Facebook went public and played a major role in turning it into a social media giant that generated almost $120 billion in revenue last year.
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg is stepping down
Sandberg, who according to her employees informed Zuckerberg of her decision this past weekend, will continue to serve as Meta’s board of directors.
In an interview with Bloomberg, she said she had expected to be with company only for roughly five years rather than the 14 she has served.
“It’s a decision I didn’t come to lightly, but it’s been 14 years,” she said
Sandberg called her time at Meta the “honor and privilege of a lifetime,” but joked that it’s also “not the most manageable job anyone has ever had.”
“I believe in this company,” she said,
“The debate around social media has changed beyond recognition since those early days. To say it hasn’t always been easy is an understatement,”
“But it should be hard. The products we make have a huge impact, so we have the responsibility to build them in a way that protects privacy and keeps people safe.”
“Have we gotten everything right? Absolutely not. Have we learned and listened and grown and invested where we need to? This team has and will.”
Sandberg said it was “pretty unlikely” that she would take another job in business or enter politics.
She said,
“I learned a long time ago — never make any predictions about the future.”
“I want to make more room to do more philanthropically, to do more with my foundation.”
Sandberg also said she planned to get married this summer.
However, in a Facebook post on Wednesday, Mr. Zuckerberg praised Ms. Sandberg, saying it was “unusual for a business partnership like ours to last so long.”
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg is stepping down
“Looking forward, I don’t plan to replace Sheryl’s role in our existing structure. I’m not sure that would be possible since she’s a superstar who defined the COO role in her own unique way,”
“But even if it were possible, I think Meta has reached the point where it makes sense for our product and business groups to be more closely integrated, rather than having all the business and operations functions organized separately from our products,” he said.
He named Javier Olivan, a longtime product executive who has overseen much of Facebook’s growth over the past decade, as Meta’s next chief operating officer.
