Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg Steps Down After 14 Years At The Company

Sheryl Sandberg, Meta’s second most powerful executive, recently made a shocking announcement regarding her departure after a 14-year tenure that included helping steer scandal-prone Facebook to advertising dominance. The 52-year-old COO of Meta, considered one of the most influential women in Silicon Valley, will depart from Facebook parent Meta in the fall. However, she is planning to remain on the firm’s board.

A Harvard-graduate executive, Sandberg joined Facebook in 2008 when it was still just a startup, playing a pivotal role in its development into a multi-billion dollar advertising mammoth.

“Fourteen years later, it is time for me to write the next chapter of my life,” Sandberg said. “I am not entirely sure what the future will bring — I have learned no one ever is.”

As Sandberg announced her departure, Meta shares fell more than two percent, another blow to a stock value that has plummeted on worries that the company’s regular growth was coming to an end.

Via Sheryl Sandberg’s Instagram page

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the role Sandberg held at the company for all these years, will be reshaped, as Javier Olivan becomes Meta’s new chief operating officer. “The next COO will be more traditional, different from the close second-in-command status Sandberg holds”, Zuckerberg said. “She has taught me so much and she has been there for many of the important moments in my life, both personally and professionally.” He added.