PALO ALTO, United States (Reuters) – Meta Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, whose close partnership with Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has fueled the growth of the world’s largest social network, is leaving the company after 14 years, she said. said in a statement. Post on Facebook on Wednesday.
The announcement sent shares of the social media company down 4%. Sandberg is one of Meta’s most visible executives and has long been a staunch supporter of the much-anticipated business model of the company and its founder, Zuckerberg. “When I took this job in 2008, I expected to be in this role for five years. Fourteen years later, it’s time to write the next chapter of my life,” she wrote.
Chief development officer Javier Olivan will take over as chief operating officer, Zuckerberg said in a separate message, although he said he did not plan to directly replace Sandberg’s role within the company’s current structure.
“I think Meta has gotten to the point where it makes sense for our products and business groups to be more integrated, rather than streamline all business functions and operations separately from our products,” he said.
Olivan has been working at Meta for over 14 years and has led teams dealing with Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. Sandberg said she’s not sure what the future holds for her, but she plans to focus on her foundation and philanthropic work. She said she would continue to serve on Meta’s board after leaving the company. Prior to joining Facebook, Sandberg was Vice President of Global Online Sales and Operations at Google, Chief of Staff at the US Treasury Department under former President Bill Clinton, a management consultant at McKinsey and an economist at the World Bank. A graduate of Harvard University, Sandberg is the author of several books, including the 2013 feminist manifesto “Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead.”
(by Katie Paul in Palo Alto and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru)
