Sheryl Sandberg, head of Facebook’s parent company Meta, resigns

Sheryl Sandberg is leaving the position of operations director of the parent company Meta on Facebook, the company confirmed on Wednesday.

“The debate over social networking has changed beyond recognition since those early days. To say it wasn’t always easy is an understatement,” Sandberg wrote.

“But it should be difficult. The products we make have a huge impact, so it’s our responsibility to create 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 director of growth, will become its next COO, but his role will be “different from Sheryl’s and” more traditional COO, “Zuckerberg added.

“I think Meta has reached a point where it makes sense for our product and business groups to be more closely integrated than for all business and operational functions to be organized separately from our products,” he said.

The end of an era after a long partnership

Sandberg was already a prominent figure in the technology industry when she joined Facebook, when she was Google’s vice president of global online sales and operations. Prior to Google, she held leadership roles at the World Bank and Treasury under President Bill Clinton. In those early years on Facebook, it was often referred to as adult supervision for a company run by a very young founder.

“When Sheryl joined me in 2008, I was only 23 years old and I barely knew anything about running a company,” Zuckerberg said in a statement. “We created a great product – a Facebook website – but we didn’t have a profitable business yet and we struggled with the transition from a small startup to a real organization.”

Sandberg, in partnership with Zuckerberg, helped increase Facebook’s revenue from about $ 150 million in 2007 to more than $ 3.7 billion in 2011, a year before it went public. She also gained a new position as one of the most influential women in technology.

This reputation has been enhanced by her work to launch the “Lean In” movement, which offers a plan for how women can succeed and achieve their goals.

“Sheryl has created the architecture of our advertising business, hired great people, created our management culture and taught me how to run a company. It has created opportunities for millions of people around the world and deserves recognition for so much of what Meta is today.” Zuckerberg wrote.

But Sandberg also presided over Facebook as he changed from one of Silicon Valley’s most exciting new ventures to a scandal-prone organization blamed on everything from undermining democracy to aiding genocide. Along with Zuckerberg, Sandberg faced growing challenges from politicians and the public over misinformation, accusations of political bias, and impending government regulation – forcing her to answer questions she may not have foreseen when she first agreed to join the company.

To help guide public policy in Facebook’s business, the company hired Nick Clegg as head of global affairs in 2018. While the former UK deputy prime minister reported to Sandberg, it also meant depriving Sandberg of part of her portfolio and reducing her profile. – which, according to a New York Times report from 2021, partially drew attention to the discrepancy between Sandberg and Zuckerberg, which arose during Trump’s reign and only deepened over time. (Facebook questioned the characteristics of their relationship Times.)

Over the years, rumors have surfaced that Sandberg will leave. In 2018, Zuckerberg said Sandberg would not go anywhere, noting that he hoped “we would work together for another decade.”

Zuckerberg said in a statement Wednesday, “It’s unusual for a business partnership like ours to last that long. I think it took ours because Sheryl is such an amazing person, leader, partner and friend.”