Sandberg steps down as Zuckerberg’s lieutenant
Right-hand woman quits top role at Facebook owner Meta after 14 years to ‘write next chapter of my life’
SHERYL SANDBERG, the woman dubbed Mark Zuckerberg’s most valuable friend, has quit her second-incommand role at Facebook owner Meta after 14 years.
In a post on Facebook, Ms Sandberg said she was stepping down as chief operating officer of the company which she has been credited with transforming from a start-up into a multibilliondollar technology titan.
Meta’s shares slumped by almost 4pc following the announcement.
Ms Sandberg, who did not provide a reason for quitting, will remain on the board of the company and will be replaced by Javier Olivan, Meta’s chief growth officer, in the autumn.
In a separate post on Facebook, Mr Zuckerberg, the company’s chief executive and founder, called Ms Sandberg’s departure “the end of an era”.
Mr Zuckerberg hired Ms Sandberg as the social media giant’s first chief operating officer in 2008. She has been key to turning Facebook into an advertising powerhouse that generated almost $120bn (£96bn) in revenue last year.
She also answered for Facebook’s privacy and policy missteps over the years, attempting to improve its relationship with the public and regulators.
Along the way, she became an influential author, publishing Lean In in 2013, and served as the highest-profile face of the company next to Mr Zuckerberg. Ms Sandberg has also been the public policy face of Meta, meeting with lawmakers, holding focus groups and speaking out on issues such as women in the workplace and most recently, abortion.
The pair met in 2008 when Mr Zuckerberg was 23. She left a senior role at Google to lead operations at the-then fledgling online platform.
Ms Sandberg was brought in to oversee its business functions, including advertising, partnerships, business development and operations, so that Mr Zuckerberg could focus on products. Meta now has four products with 1bn users, and its advertising business generated $27bn in sales in the first quarter.
Ms Sandberg said yesterday: “When I took this job in 2008, I hoped I would be in this role for five years. Fourteen years later, it is time for me to write the next chapter of my life.
“I am not entirely sure what the future will bring – I have learnt no one ever is. But I know it will include focusing more on my foundation and philanthropic work, which is more important to me than ever given how critical this moment is for women.”
Mr Zuckerberg said Mr Olivan would not replace Ms Sandberg’s role as chief operating officer in Meta’s existing structure.
He added: “I’m not sure that would be possible since she’s a superstar who defined the COO role in her own unique way. Javi will become our next Chief Operating Officer ... But this role will be different from what Sheryl has done.”
‘I am not entirely sure what the future will bring – but I know it will include focus on my foundation work’
It is thought that Sir Nick Clegg, former deputy prime minister turned Meta’s president of global affairs, will now report to Mr Zuckerberg alone.
Ms Sandberg’s departure comes as Mr Zuckerberg attempts to recentre his company around the “metaverse”, a series of online worlds accessed through virtual reality.
He rebranded the company as Meta last year and is spending billions to get ahead of rivals such as Apple and Microsoft in the new field.
Meta posted a rocky performance for the first quarter of 2022 as daily active users on Facebook beat expectations, but sales growth was the slowest ever.
Its core social networking business is suffering from the competition of video-sharing giant Tiktok, while the advertising arm has been hampered by changes Apple has made to the iphone, which in turn are making it more difficult to target adverts. In February, the stock slumped by 26.4pc.