Sheryl Sandberg, a famous executive in Silicon Valley who was instrumental in establishing Facebook as a global powerhouse in the field of technology, has announced her intention to step down from her position as chief operating officer of Meta, the company that owns Facebook.
Sandberg, who is 52 years old, made the unexpected news in a statement that she published on Facebook on Wednesday, saying that: “When I accepted this position in 2008, I did so with the intention of staying here for at least the next five years. After a lapse of time of fourteen years, it is now time for me to begin writing the next chapter of my life “Sandberg wrote. “I have learnt that no one is ever completely sure what the future will hold; thus, neither can I.”
The business has stated that Sandberg will continue to serve on the board of directors of Meta. When Sandberg steps down from his position as chief operational officer in the fall, another leader at the firm named Javier Olivan will take over in that capacity.
She has big ambitions to devote her time and energy to her foundation and her philanthropic work. She revealed in her post that she will be getting married to television producer Tom Bernthal this coming summer.
Sandberg had a crucial role in helping to expand Facebook from a free social network that was conceived up in a Harvard dorm room into one of the most powerful social media platforms in the world, with approximately 3 billion users all over the world.
She functioned as a seasoned No. 2 at firm alongside co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, who was managing the company in his early 20s at the time. During the early days of Facebook’s rise, she was frequently referred to as “the adult in the room.” During this time, Facebook was still in its infancy. Sandberg began her career in the advertising industry at Google, where she worked for many years before joining Facebook.
Sandberg stated the following in the resignation message that she released on Wednesday: “He was barely 23 and I was already 38 when we met, but together we have gone through the huge ups and downs of operating this company.”
Sandberg was responsible for the advertising strategy at Facebook, as well as hiring, firing, and other management issues. In an interview with the New Yorker in 2011, Zuckerberg recalled that he had told her that she “handles stuff I don’t want to.” “She does a much better job at that than I do.”
She became the public face of Facebook outside of the firm, participating in interviews during times of crisis and mingling with policymakers who were deliberating on regulations that might have an impact on Facebook.
Sandberg is leaving at a time when Facebook, which rebranded itself as Meta a year ago, is attempting to rebuild itself as a hardware firm focused on the virtual reality-powered metaverse. Sandberg’s departure comes at this critical juncture. In contrast to the social network, the business associated with the metaverse does not rely on advertising, which was one of Sandberg’s primary areas of competence.
In addition to her role as the number two executive at Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg is also a famous author. In 2013, she published the book “Lean In,” which quickly became a pivotal text in the movement for more gender equality in the workplace. Following the unexpected death of her husband Dave Goldberg in 2015, she created a second book titled “Option B,” which is on how to deal with bereavement.
At Facebook, Sandberg served as the public face of the company as it reeled from crises over the years, including Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election and in the months following the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal over how the data-mining firm had inappropriately used Facebook user data for political purposes. These crises included Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election and in the months following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election was one of the most prominent examples.
Her departure comes two months after an incident in which Sandberg was said to have asked a British tabloid to refrain from reporting on her ex-boyfriend Bobby Kotick, who is now the CEO of Activision Blizzard. Her departure comes as a result of this controversy.
Reportedly based on court files revealing that an ex-girlfriend of Kotick’s had received a temporary restraining order against him after charges of harassment, the story was never published but was rumored to have been based on the documents.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Sandberg’s advisors were concerned that the story could damage Sandberg’s reputation as a champion for women. As a result, a team that included employees from Facebook sought to get the story canceled.
The results of Facebook’s investigation into whether or not Sandberg’s conduct broke any of the company’s policies have not been made public. A representative for the corporation has simply stated that the investigation has been finished so far.
A spokesman for Meta stated that the rumors regarding the event involving Kotick are unrelated to Sandberg’s decision to leave the company.
Nkechi Nneji, a spokesman for Meta, stated that the former employee was not fired nor forced out of her position.