Sheryl Sandberg has announced she will be leaving the board of Meta.
The technology executive is credited for leading Facebook’s digital advertising-driven business model from her time as chief operating officer.
She will depart the board when her term ends in May, having left her post in May 2022, 14 years after she joined Mark Zuckerberg at the company.
In a public statement on Facebook, alongside a picture of her with the social network’s founder, she announced her decision on Wednesday.
She wrote: “The Meta business is strong and well-positioned for the future, so this feels like the right time to step away.
“I will always be grateful to Mark for believing in me and for his partnership and friendship; he is that truly once-in-a-generation visionary leader and he is equally amazing as a friend who stays by your side through the good times and the bad.”
She added: “Going forward, I will serve as an advisor to the company, and I will always be there to help the Meta teams.”
Mr Zuckerberg responded: “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.”
She leaves as Meta faces up to the problem of deep fake AI scams and videos, with more than 100 said to have been posted on Facebook that are impersonating Rishi Sunak.
The company has moved a long way since the Harvard University days of its origin. But while Mr Zuckerberg has grown into his role of ‘king of the metaverse’ he owes much of the success to his former second-in-command.
Who is Sheryl Sandberg?
The 54-year-old is one of the most prominent and recognisable women in tech.
Like her boss at Facebook, she also studied at Harvard. However, her career started in politics and she became chief for the US treasury department under Bill Clinton. She later endorsed his wife Hillary at the time she was running for president and has always claimed to have voted for the Democratic Party.
In 2001, her career took a left turn when she joined Google, where she rose to become vice president of global online sales and operations.
Joining Facebook in 2008 represented a risk as the company was then hardly the international behemoth it turned into – but, as chief operating officer, she thrived.
Before her arrival, Facebook was a rapidly growing company with little profitability.
“There was this open question: Could we make money, ever?” she told the New Yorker.
Under her command, the company grew as a business through advertising on a level that hadn’t been seen before in Silicon Valley.
Key to her success has been her ability to work with Mr Zuckerberg.
Facebook chief Chris Cox told the New Yorker: “She builds trust because she’s honest… People can be intimidated by Mark. Sheryl just cuts right through that.”
Her exploits have helped her consistently rank in the Fortune list of the top 50 ‘most powerful women in business', making it as high as number five in 2017.
She is married to her third husband, Tom Bernthal, whom she married in 2022, her former partner Dave Goldberg having died unexpectedly in 2015.
Ms Sandberg has a son and daughter with Mr Goldberg. She is of Jewish background and currently lives with her family in California.
While she is no longer tied to Meta, she is still the chair at women’s championing organisation Lean In. In addition, she has published books on leadership and equality.
