Sheryl Sandberg, formerly Meta’s chief operating officer, announced Wednesday that she’ll be stepping down from the company’s board of directors in May.
Sandberg stepped down as the COO of Meta, formerly Facebook, in June 2022. While she had remained on the company’s board of directors, her departure from the C-suite marked a pivotal shift in the company’s leadership. When she steps down from Meta’s board in May, Sandberg will become an advisor to the company, she said in a Facebook post Wednesday.
In the post, Sandberg thanked her colleagues at Meta and said she believes the company is “well-positioned” to operate without her.
“Serving as Facebook’s — and then Meta’s — COO for 14 ½ years and a board member for 12 years has been the opportunity of a lifetime,” Sandberg wrote.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg commented on her post: “Thank you Sheryl for the extraordinary contributions you have made to our company and community over the years. Your dedication and guidance have been instrumental in driving our success and I am grateful for your unwavering commitment to me and Meta over the years. I look forward to this next chapter together!”
Sandberg leaves a complex legacy at Meta. She helped lead the company through multiple controversies. During her tenure, Facebook improperly shared the data of some 87 million users with political research firm Cambridge Analytica,launched an aggressive lobbying campaign in Washington and faced scrutiny over the “Facebook papers,” which showed the role the company played in Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
The “Lean In” author has advocated for women in the workplace and has spoken about navigating grief. She was also considered to be the “adult in the room” at the company when Zuckerberg was still in his twenties.
