What does Sandberg do at Facebook?

Facebook, which changed its corporate name to Meta last year, has been helmed by founder Zuckerberg since its early days in a Harvard dorm room, and Sandberg has been by his side for much of that journey. She’s credited with helping to make the buzzy site, which had a lot of traction but not a lot of structure when she came onboard, into an actual business. In a Facebook post marking her departure, Zuckerberg hailed her for architecting the company’s ads business, which is how Facebook makes the majority of its money. Sandberg was responsible for overseeing the ads business during her tenure at the company. Zuckerberg also said Sandberg “taught me how to run a company.”

What else is Sandberg known for?

Sandberg rose to international fame outside Silicon Valley in 2013 when her first book, “Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead,” became a bestseller that aimed to inspire women to advance in the workplace. Sandberg started an organization for women to form their own Lean-In groups where they worked. She wrote another book, “Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy,” in 2017, two years after her husband Dave Goldberg died.

What controversies has Sandberg faced?

Sandberg joined Facebook and led divisions of the company for many years during a more optimistic time for tech companies, when political favor had not yet turned to skepticism about social media’s influence on society. That has shifted in the past several years, especially since the 2016 presidential election. Sandberg ran the company’s policy division during the massive Cambridge Analytica scandal, when a Donald Trump-affiliated consultancy siphoned data from millions of Facebook users inappropriately. She also downplayed Facebook’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, saying: “I think these events were largely organized on platforms that don’t have our abilities to stop hate, don’t have our standards and don’t have our transparency.” But evidence eventually showed that Facebook played a much larger role than Sandberg suggested. These political controversies added up, and eventually Sandberg was seen by some in a more tarnished light.

Why is Sandberg’s departure such a big deal?

She has been a driving force in making Facebook the massive company it is today. Though its stock price has dropped sharply this year, the company is still worth about $510 billion. Sandberg has also been a vocal advocate for women in tech, and one of the highest-ranking and most powerful women in Silicon Valley. Her departure leaves few women in as influential positions as she occupied in the industry.

Technology

Who is Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s departing COO?

Q: Who is Sheryl Sandberg?

Sandberg is Facebook’s chief operating officer and the de facto second-in-command to CEO Mark Zuckerberg. She joined the company 14 years ago, when it was only a few years old and growing quickly, but far from the powerhouse it would become. She has become known throughout Silicon Valley and Washington as an influential business leader and deft political negotiator, as well as an advocate for women in the workplace. She is perhaps the second most recognizable figure from Facebook, behind Zuckerberg.

She rose to fame during a more optimistic time for tech companies’ public image

By Rachel Lerman

June 1, 2022 at 6:34 p.m. EDT

Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, speaks at the World Economic Forum in 2017. Sandberg announced she would leave the company later this year. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images)

SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook’s second-in-command Sheryl Sandberg announced Wednesday that she is leaving the company this fall.

The longtime social media executive said she plans to focus on her philanthropic efforts and her family, including her children and upcoming marriage to marketing executive Tom Bernthal.

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Here’s what you need to know about Facebook’s chief operating officer.

Top executive Sheryl Sandberg is leaving Facebook