COO Sheryl Sandberg to step down from Meta after 14 years

Sheryl Sandberg is stepping down from her role as chief operating officer at Meta after 14 years, the executive announced in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

Javier Olivan, Meta's chief growth officer, will replace Sandberg starting this fall, while Sandberg will continue to serve on the company's board of directors. She apparently notified Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg of her decision over the weekend.

"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," the businesswoman wrote in her post, noting that while she is not "entirely sure what the future will bring," she knows it will include an increased focus on philanthropic work.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Sandberg is also known for her book Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, which focused on helping women advance their careers and overcome challeges at work. Her time at Facebook helped turn the company from a fledgling start-up to one of the most powerful in the tech industry, notes CNBC. The departure also represents "a major shake-up in which [Zuckerberg] will lose one of his closest lieutenants," adds The Financial Times.