Sheryl Sandberg, one of Silicon Valley’s most prominent executives who helped build Facebook into a global tech juggernaut, is stepping down as chief operating officer of Meta, Facebook’s parent company.
Sandberg, 52, made the surprise announcement in a Facebook post on Wednesday, writing that: “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,” Sandberg wrote. “I am not entirely sure what the future will bring – I have learned no one ever is.”
Sandberg will stay on the board of Meta, according to the company. Javier Olivan, another executive at the company, will takeover as chief operating officer when Sandberg departs the role this fall.
Sandberg was a pivotal figure in helping grow Facebook from a free social network dreamed up in a Harvard dorm to one of the most dominant social media platforms in the world, with nearly 3 billion users around the globe.
Often referred to as “the adult in the room” during the early days of Facebook’s rise, she served as a seasoned No. 2 at company alongside co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, who was leading the company in his early 20s. Sandberg arrived at Facebook after years of working as a manager in advertising at Google.
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