Sheryl Sandberg to step down as COO of Fb-parent Meta

After an extended partnership, it’s time to finish the period

Sandberg had been a longtime determine in tech when she joined Fb. She was Google’s vp for international on-line gross sales operations and advertising. She had beforehand held high-ranking roles within the Treasury Division and World Financial institution below President Invoice Clinton. She was steadily referred to in these first years of Fb as “adult supervision” for corporations run by younger founders.

Zuckerberg wrote that he was 23 when Sheryl got here to me for assist in 2008. He didn’t know a lot about managing a enterprise and had no thought what entrepreneurship meant. “We’d built a great product — the Facebook website — but we didn’t yet have a profitable business and we were struggling to transition from a small startup to a real organization.”

Sandberg and Zuckerberg labored collectively to develop Fb’s income, from roughly $150 million in 2007, as much as over $3.7billion in 2011. That was only one yr prior it turned public. Sandberg additionally turned a distinguished determine within the tech business as considered one of its most vital ladies. Her work in launching Lean In, a motion that gives a roadmap for ladies to succeed and attain their objectives, helped her construct a robust status.

Sheryl designed our promoting enterprise, created an ideal administration tradition and confirmed me the way to handle an organization. Zuckerberg mentioned that she created thousands and thousands of alternatives across the globe and deserves credit score for a lot of the success of Meta.

Sandberg was additionally the chief of Fb’s transformation from a Silicon Valley startup to 1 that could be a sizzling subject to be a pioneer in Silicon Valley to turning into a scandal-prone firm, being accused of something from undermining democracy and aiding genocide. Together with Zuckerberg, Sandberg confronted rising challenges from policymakers and the general public alike on misinformation, allegations of political bias, and looming authorities regulation — forcing her to reply questions she might not have foreseen when she first agreed to hitch the corporate.

The corporate in 2018 employed Nick Clegg to move international affairs. He was chargeable for managing the Fb public coverage part. Whereas the previous UK deputy prime minister reported to Sandberg, it additionally meant relieving Sandberg of a portion of her portfolio and lowering her profile — which, in response to a 2021 report by the New York Occasions, partly highlighted a rift between Sandberg and Zuckerberg that had emerged through the Trump administration and solely widened over time. (Fb disagreed with the Occasions’ portrayal of their relationship.

There have been rumors through the years that Sandberg would possibly depart. Zuckerberg claimed that Sandberg isn’t leaving and said that they’d proceed to work collectively “for decades” in 2018.

Zuckerberg posted Wednesday that it was uncommon for enterprise partnerships like his to final this lengthy. Ours is a superb partnership as a result of Sheryl is a unprecedented chief, pal and associate.