Facebook-owner Meta Platforms’ Sheryl Sandberg to leave the organization following 14 years

Meta Platforms Inc (FB.O) Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, whose nearby partnership with Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg powered the development of the world’s greatest social network, is leaving the organization following 14 years, she said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

Sheryl Sandberg is stepping down from her role as Chief Operating Officer at Meta, the organization previously known as Facebook.

Sandberg joined Facebook in mid 2008 as the No. 2 to Facebook CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, and helped transform Facebook into an advertising juggernaut and one of the most remarkable organizations in the tech industry, with a market cap that beat $1 trillion at one point.

In a post on Facebook, Sandberg didn’t uncover the justification behind her takeoff from the organization, which will happen in the fall. Sandberg said she intended to focus on her philanthropic work going ahead. She has worked for the organization for 14 years.

“The debate around social media has changed beyond recognition since those early days. To say it hasn’t always been easy is an understatement,” Sandberg wrote. “But it should be hard. The products we make have a huge impact, so we have the responsibility to build them in a way that protects privacy and keeps people safe.”

Sandberg will keep on serving on the organization’s board of directors, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a different Facebook post. Javier Olivan, the organization’s Chief Growth Officer, will become its next COO, yet his job will be “different from what Sheryl has done” and “a more traditional COO role,” Zuckerberg added.

“I think Meta has reached the point where it makes sense for our product and business groups to be more closely integrated, rather than having all the business and operations functions organized separately from our products,” he said.

Sandberg utilized her prosperity with Facebook to raise her own profile, particularly among women in the workplace.

In 2013, she released the book “Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead,” focusing on the challenges women face in the workplace and how they might propel their careers.

In 2015, she was confronted with the unexpected death of her husband Dave Goldberg, who suffered cardiac arrhythmia and fell on a treadmill. Sandberg has talked for a long time about managing the grief of Goldberg’s passing, and in 2017, she released a book named “Option B” revolved around the topic.

Preceding Facebook, Sandberg served in the Treasury Department of the Clinton organization, then joined Google in 2001 and developed its advertising business.