His departure marks the end of an era. It transformed the emerging social network into a revenue giant and positioned itself as the face of feminism in corporate America
Sheryl Sandberg (Reuters)
“Then I am 14 years old, I will leave Meta”, announced on Facebook this Wednesday Sheryl Sandberg, director of operations of the American giant of social networks, who will remain on the firm’s board of directors. Her close collaboration with CEO Mark Zuckerberg fueled the growth of the platform.
“When I accepted this job in 2008, I expected to be in this position for five years. Fourteen years later, the time has come to write the next chapter of my life,” she said. The announcement sent shares of the social media company initially down 4%, but in subsequent trading they traded nearly flat.
Chief Growth Officer Javier Olivan will take over as chief operating officer, Zuckerberg reported in another post, though he added that he did not plan to replace Sandberg’s role directly within the company’s current structure. Olivan has worked at Meta for more than 14 years and has led teams running Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger.
Sandberg’s departure marks the end of an era for Meta, which is shifting its focus to hardware products and the “metaverse”after years of scandals over privacy abuses and the spread of conspiracy content on its platforms, as well as the stagnation of user growth in its flagship application Facebook.
Sandberg, second in command de Zuckerberg and who was 23 when he hired her, is one of the most visible executives of the company and the main architect of its business model, often criticized, based on advertising.
(Getty Images)
Contributing her experience in management and her knowledge of the then-fledgling digital ad industry, transformed Facebook from a start-up into a revenue behemoth, while also positioning itself as the face of feminism< /b> in corporate America.
At the time, Facebook had revenue of $272 million, with a net loss of $56 million, according to regulatory filings. In 2011, a year before the company’s initial public offering, its revenues had skyrocketed to $3.7 billion with $1 billion in profits.
Goal ended 2021 with revenues of $118 billion and earnings of $39.4 billion.
Sandberg, long seen as the “adult” of the youth-run company, has found herself at the center of controversy for her role in responding to criticism of the social media giant.
It came under fire, in particular, for an embarrassing attempt to probe George Soros, the billionaire investor, after he attacked the online network as a “threat to society”. Facebook has acknowledged that Sandberg asked its staff to conduct an investigation into the Hungarian-born billionaire following his remarks, out of concern that he was holding a “short” position that would benefit from a decline in the stock.
Among tech wunderkinds, Sandberg offered a firmer hand as a result of his experience working for former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and the philanthropic arm of Google.
Sandberg testifies before the US Congress (AFP)
In 2015, Sandberg was devastated by the sudden death of her husband, American tech executive David Goldberg, at a luxury resort in Mexico. Two years ago, she announced her engagement to marketing executive Tom Bernthal.
Sandberg said in his post that he will remain on Meta’s board of directors after leaving the company in the fall.
When asked about his next steps, he told Reuters which was focusing on philanthropy at a “critical time for women.”
“We’ve hired a lot of great leaders. I feel really good about it. The next management team is ready to take the company forward,” he said, quoting chief business officer Marne Levine and president of global affairs Nick Clegg by name.
The economic model of Meta, based on targeted and large-scale advertising, which requires a lot of personal data, has provoked controversy after controversy since 2016.
Many authorities accuse him of abuse of dominant position, as than its neighbor Google, the world leader in digital advertising.
(With information from Reuters, EFE and AFP)