Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - Sheryl Sandberg, the Chief Operating Officer of Meta Platforms Inc , is leaving the firm after 14 years...
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| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - Sheryl Sandberg, the Chief Operating Officer of Meta Platforms Inc, is leaving the firm after 14 years, according to a Facebook post she made on Wednesday. Sandberg's strong cooperation with Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg fueled the expansion of the world's largest social network.
The news initially pushed the social network company's stock down 4%, but it was practically flat in after-hours trading.
"I wanted to stay in this position for five years when I started in 2008. It's time for me to start writing the next chapter of my life, fourteen years later "she penned
In a separate Facebook post, Zuckerberg said that Chief Growth Officer Javier Olivan will take over as Chief Operating Officer, while he emphasized that he did not want to immediately replace Sandberg's function within the company's existing structure.
"I believe Meta has reached a stage where it makes more sense for our product and business divisions to be more closely integrated, rather than having all of our business and operational functions organized separately from our products," he explained.
Olivan has spent more than 14 years at Meta, where he has overseen teams responsible for Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger.
After years of controversies over privacy violations and the proliferation of conspiracy content on its platforms, as well as plateauing user growth on its flagship app Facebook, Sandberg's exit marks the end of an era for Meta, which is changing its attention toward hardware goods and the "metaverse."
Sandberg is the second-in-command to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who hired her when she was 23 years old. She is one of the company's most visible executives and the chief architect of the company's often-criticized ad-based business model.
She converted Facebook from a buzzy startup into a revenue giant, while also establishing herself as the face of women in corporate America, by bringing management expertise and knowledge of the then-nascent digital ad market.
According to regulatory documents, Facebook made $272 million in sales at the time, with a $56 million net loss. The company's revenue had risen to $3.7 billion in 2011, a year before its initial public offering, on a profit of $1 billion.
Meta concluded 2021 with $118 billion in revenue and $39.4 billion in profit.
Sandberg stated in her post that after leaving Meta in the fall, she will continue to serve on the board of directors.
She told Reuters that she was focusing on philanthropy at a "critical moment for women" when questioned about her next plans.
"We've employed a lot of outstanding people. That gives me a lot of pleasure. To move the company ahead, the new leadership team has been assembled "She specifically mentioned Marne Levine, the Chief Business Officer, and Nick Clegg, the President of Global Affairs.
DEFENDER STAUNCH
Over the course of Facebook's many problems, Sandberg has continuously defended the firm, claiming that management were learning from their mistakes and perfecting the company's capabilities to better regulate harmful content.
Last year, she told Reuters that she and Zuckerberg had a responsibility to address broken systems, despite allegations that she was losing control at the firm.
"People love business drama headlines, and I think it's fair to say they love headlines about women being sidelined," she added in the January 2021 interview.
Sandberg's tenure spanned both Facebook's first 2011 privacy settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission and a subsequent $5 billion bombshell payment for violations of the earlier arrangement.
She and Zuckerberg were among individuals who, according to then-Commissioner Rohit Chopra, should have been investigated more thoroughly for their participation in the company's activities.
Under her leadership, the firm was rocked by disclosures in 2018 that Cambridge Analytica, a British consultancy, had inappropriately acquired data on millions of Facebook users in the United States in order to target election advertising.
The use of Facebook, according to UN human rights investigators, played a crucial role in spreading hate speech that sparked violence against Myanmar's Rohingya people.
She drew even more fire when she told Reuters early last year that she thought the events surrounding the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol were mostly orchestrated on other platforms, despite the fact that academics had discovered similar behavior on Facebook as well.
Whistleblower Frances Haugen accused Facebook of prioritizing profit over policing hate speech and misinformation late last year, claiming that her lawyers had filed at least eight complaints with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Sandberg formerly worked at Google as vice president of global online sales and operations and as chief of staff for former President Bill Clinton's Treasury Department.
Sandberg, a Harvard University graduate, is the author of many books, including "Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead," a feminist manifesto published in 2013.
