Sandberg's Facebook post
After resigning as Chief Operating Officer of Meta (formerly Facebook) for nearly two years, Sheryl Sandberg posted on Wednesday (January 17) Eastern Time that she will leave Meta's board of directors after her term ends in May this year.
"With a heart full of gratitude and memories, I have informed the Meta board that I will not participate in the board re-election election in May this year," Sandberg wrote. She also highly praised Meta CEO Zuckerberg's leadership in the post, stating that Zuckerberg and Meta's current leadership team "have proven the strength of their business and are well prepared for the future, so now is the best time to leave."
In response to Sandberg's aforementioned post, Zuckerberg said, "Thank you for your extraordinary contributions to our company and community over the years. Our success is inseparable from your contributions and guidance, and I am grateful for your unwavering commitment to me and Meta over the years."
Sandberg stated that after leaving the board, she will focus more on charitable causes and continue to serve as an advisor to Meta. According to CNN, Sandberg will carry out charity work through her charity organization Lean In, which is committed to helping women achieve their goals in the workplace and corporate culture. In 2013, Sandberg also published the book of the same name, "Moving Forward: Women, Work, and Leadership," and achieved great fame in related fields.
Sandberg has served as the Chief Operating Officer at Facebook for over 14 years and on the Board of Directors for 12 years. In the autumn of 2022, Sandberg officially stepped down as the company's Chief Operating Officer. Before joining Facebook in 2008, she was already a well-known figure in the Silicon Valley technology industry and previously served as the Vice President of Global Online Sales and Operations at Google. Before joining Google, she also served as the Chief of Staff for US Treasury Secretary Samos during the Clinton administration, a management consultant for McKinsey&Company, and a World Bank economist.
During his tenure at Facebook, Sandberg strongly dominated its digital advertising driven business model. According to news website Axios, Facebook's revenue has grown to nearly $118 billion by 2021. In comparison, the company's revenue in 2008 was $272 million, an increase of 43000%. In 2021, Sandberg oversaw the company's large-scale brand reshaping from Facebook to Meta, showcasing the company's ambition to create an immersive digital world around the metaverse.
Under her leadership, Facebook became one of the most influential companies in the world, but in the process, she also faced a lot of criticism and questioning. The main controversy lies in the fact that in many of the major events she encountered in the latter half of her career, she did not take a step forward as she wrote in her own book (titled "Taking a Step Forward: Women, Work, and Leadership Will"), but adopted a "shrinking" attitude, It has even been exposed to have participated in activities that are detrimental to women in the workplace.
According to The New York Times, publicly available insider information shows that Sandberg was aware of Facebook's involvement in the Cambridge Analytics scandal and the "Russian intervention" incident during the 2016 US presidential election, but did not intervene. According to The Wall Street Journal, during a meeting, Zuckerberg was very angry about the Cambridge Analytics incident and angrily accused Sandberg of "directly responsible" for the consequences caused by the incident.
In addition, after top billionaire George Soros publicly criticized Facebook and shorted its stocks, Sandberg directly requested Facebook's public relations department to conduct opponent research on Soros, a common smear attack in the political field.
According to Forbes estimates, Sandberg's net worth is $1.9 billion, ranking 17th on the Forbes self-made female billionaire list.
Disclaimer: The content and data in this article are for reference only and do not constitute investment advice. Please verify before use. Based on this operation, the risk is borne by oneself.