Sheryl Sandberg will resign as chief operating officer of Meta, Facebook’s parent company, the company confirmed on Wednesday.
In a post on Facebook, Sandberg did not disclose the reason for his departure from the company, which will take place in the fall. Sandberg said he planned to focus on his philanthropic work in the future. He has worked for the company for 14 years.
“The debate on social media has shifted beyond recognition since those early days. To say it hasn’t always been easy is an understatement,” Sandberg wrote.
Sandberg will continue to serve on the company’s board of directors. (Getty)
“But it should be difficult. The products we make have a huge impact, so we have a responsibility to build them in a way that protects privacy and keeps people safe.”
Sandberg will continue to serve on the company’s board of directors, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a separate post on Facebook.
Javier Olivan, the company’s Chief Growth Officer, will become his next COO, but his role will be “different from what Sheryl has done” and “a more traditional COO role,” Zuckerberg added.
“I think Meta has gotten to the point where it makes sense for our products and business groups to be more integrated, rather than having all the business and operational functions organized separately from our products,” he said.
End of an era after a long collaboration
Sandberg was already a high-profile figure in the technology industry when she joined Facebook, having served as Google’s vice president of global online sales and operations. Prior to Google, he held senior positions at the World Bank and Treasury Department under President Bill Clinton. In those early years on Facebook, he was often called the adult supervisor of a company run by a very young founder.
“When Sheryl joined me in 2008, I was only 23 years old and barely knew anything about running a business,” Zuckerberg said in his post. “We created a great product, the Facebook website, but we still didn’t have a profitable business and it was hard for us to move from a small startup to a real organization.”
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company will integrate more “closely” with the mix. (PA / AAP)
In collaboration with Zuckerberg, Sandberg helped increase Facebook’s revenue from approximately $ 150 million in 2007 to more than $ 3.7 billion in 2011, the year before it went public. She also gained a new role as one of the most influential women in technology.
This reputation was eroded by her work launching the “Lean In” movement, offering a plan on how women can succeed and achieve their goals.
“Sheryl designed our ad business, hired great people, forged our management culture, and taught me how to run a business. It created opportunities for millions of people around the world, and it deserves credit. much of what Meta is today. “Zuckerberg wrote.
But Sandberg also presided over Facebook, going from being one of the most exciting new companies in Silicon Valley to being a scandal-ridden organization, accused of everything from undermining democracy to committing genocide. Along with Zuckerberg, Sandberg faced growing challenges from politicians and the public for misinformation, allegations of political bias, and government regulation that forced her to answer questions she may not have anticipated when she agreed to join the company. .
Sandberg will continue to serve on the company’s board of directors.
To help manage the public policy part of Facebook’s business, the company hired Nick Clegg as head of global affairs in 2018. While the former UK deputy prime minister informed Sandberg, it also meant relieving Sandberg of a part of your portfolio and lower your profile. – which, according to a 2021 New York Times report, revealed in part a rift between Sandberg and Zuckerberg that had arisen during the Trump administration and only widened over time. (Facebook disputed the Times’ characterization of their relationship.)
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Over the years, there have been rumors that Sandberg would leave. In 2018, Zuckerberg said Sandberg was not going anywhere and noted that he hoped that “we will work together for decades to come.”
In his Wednesday post, Zuckerberg said, “It’s unusual for a business association like ours to last that long. I think ours did it because Sheryl is such an amazing person, leader, partner and friend.”