Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Meta Platforms and the first woman to serve on its board of directors has announced that she is leaving after 14 years with the company.
No reason was given for her decision to leave the company, but she thanked Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and the "thousands of brilliant, dedicated people at Meta," with whom she "had the privilege of working [with] over the past 14 years."
Sandberg joined the company in 2008, and she will officially step down this fall. No specific date was given.
Sandberg is also the founder of LeanIn.org, a non profit organization dedicated to helping women in the workplace. Prior to working at Meta, which was still called "The Facebook" when she joined, Sandberg worked as the vice president of global online sales and operations at Google. Before jumping into the tech industry, Sandberg worked in the Treasury Department during the Clinton administration.
Responding to Sandberg's announcement, Zuckerberg called it an "end of an era" and credited her with developing the ads business, forging the company's culture, and teaching him to run a company. Zuckerberg also stated that Sandberg will remain on Meta's board of directors.
Javier Olivan, currently Meta's chief growth officer, will be taking over Sandberg's role, but Zuckerberg indicated the role Olivan will be stepping into will be different than Sandberg's was.
"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," Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post. "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."
In 2013, Sandberg wrote a book titled "Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead," which was co-authored by Neil Scobell. In 2017, she released her second book, "Option B" that was co-authored by Adam Grant, which focused on the sudden death of her husband Dave Goldberg in 2015.
Meta has face criticism as of late. From the left, it has been criticized for failing to prevent misinformation surrounding the elections and hate speech. From the right, it has been criticized for a perceived bias against conservative views.
Meta executives, including Zuckerberg, have been called to testify in front of Congress multiple times. The company currently faces a lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over alleged antitrust practices. Over the years, Meta has purchased competitors Instagram and WhatsApp, acquisitions that may be separated from the company if the FTC wins the suit.
Meta also purchased virtual reality headset company Oculus in 2014. Years later, Facebook changed its name to Meta to reflect its new focus on building the "Metaverse" a theorized virtual reality internet that has become a big part of the company's future plans.
Sandberg said that she plans to focus on her philanthropic work and her foundation. She also plans to marry her fiancée Tom Bernthal this summer. Combined, they have five children from previous marriages.
*Meta is banned in Russia