Meta’s Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg announced yesterday that she will be leaving the company within the next few months.
Having joined the firm (formely known as Facebook) in 2008, just four years after Founder Mark Zuckerberg created the app, Sandberg became an integral part of their successful and infrastructure.
Her emphasis on positioning Facebook as a platform for small business advertising contributed to a 21 percent growth in advertising revenue to $84.2 billion in 2020.
Throughout her career, Standberg has been a huge advocate for female leaders and their power within the workplace.
She has been one of the most successful women working in a large, notable company, in the field in tech.
Sandberg’s Meta resignation statement
In a long statement posted on her Facebook page, she mentioned:
“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. I am not entirely sure what the future will bring – I have learned no one ever is.
But I know it will include focusing more on my foundation and philanthropic work, which is more important to me than ever given how critical this moment is for women. And as Tom and I get married this summer, parenting our expanded family of five children. Over the next few months, Mark and I will transition my direct reports and I will leave the company this fall. I still believe as strongly as ever in our mission, and I am honored that I will continue to serve on Meta’s board of directors.
I am so immensely proud of everything this team has achieved. The businesses we’ve helped and the business we’ve built. The culture we’ve nurtured together. And I’m especially proud that this is a company where many, many exceptional women and people from diverse backgrounds have risen through our ranks and become leaders – both in our company and in leadership roles elsewhere.
Thank you to the colleagues who inspire me every day with their commitment to our mission, to our partners around the world who have enabled us to build a business that serves their businesses, and especially to Mark for giving me this opportunity and being one of the best friends anyone could ever have.“
Meta announced that Javier Olivan will be adopting the role as Chief Operating Officer, although it is apparent that his responsibilities will be reduced to reflect the importance of Sandberg’s influence and contribution to Meta.
Her exit emerges as Meta experiences a decrease in ad sales and increased competition from competitors such as TikTok.
According to an article posted by the BBC, shares within Meta actually rapidly reduced by 4% following her shocking announcement.
In a touching goodbye, Mark Zuckerberg wrote in his own post that Sandberg’s departure from Meta signified the “end of an era,” acknowledging that it was “unusual” for a partnership like theirs to last such a long period of time.
He went on to further mention that she “architected our ads business, hired great people, forged our management culture, and taught me how to run a company.”
It has been evident that as nations toughen social media regulations, Meta’s targeted ad business faces new challenges, especially with the rise of popular platform TikTok coming on the scene.
Facebook has lost a large proportion of young users as they made the switch to the short-form video sharing app.
It will be interesting to see what changes come into play as Meta takes a step into a different direction towards building the metaverse.
Don’t miss out on other major industry changes, follow us on socials @itplive.