One of the most powerful women in tech, who taught Mark Zuckerberg “how to run a business,” resigned from Meta — then Facebook — on Tuesday after 14 years, but her boss wasn’t seemingly in the applauding crowd.
Sheryl Sandberg, 53, yesterday stepped down as chief operating officer of Meta, Facebook’s parent company, for a new philanthropic venture and has been raising her now five children with her new husband.
She was seen hugging Meta staffers in a tearful goodbye while exiting drinks, but Zuclerberg – who was struck by two life events after recently announcing that within days his net worth dropped by $71 billion was expecting a third child – the photo did not appear.
Zuckerberg, who posted to Facebook in June after announcing her retirement, called Sandberg’s departure the “end of an era” and said he was always “grateful to have you as a lifelong friend.”
“In the 14 years we’ve worked together, you’ve built our ad business, hired great people, forged our management culture and taught me how to run a business,” he said.
Sandberg’s colleagues showered her with praise, others link her to many of the controversies that plagued Facebook in the 2010s – when the company was embroiled in Cambridge Analytica litigation and its data collection policies were challenged.
News of her departure came after former COO Tom Bernthal wed at a Wyoming wedding in August.
Sheryl Sandberg is given a tearful goodbye by Meta employees as she leaves the office on her last day of work – but Mark Zuckerberg was apparently absent from the applauding crowd
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg walks with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg after a session at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference July 8, 2021 in Sun Valley, Idaho
Sandberg, 53, stepped down yesterday as chief operating officer of Meta, Facebook’s parent company, for a new philanthropic venture and has been raising her now five children
Sandberg’s colleagues showered her with praise, and Zuckerberg told her he’s always “grateful to have you as a lifelong friend.”
In a farewell post on Facebook, Sandberg recalled her first encounter with Zuckerberg.
The pair attended a 2007 Christmas party at the home of Daniel L. Rosensweig, CEO of Chegg and former CEO of Guitar Hero, but said she never had a single drink.
Instead, she spent the night talking to Zuckerberg about his vision for Facebook and how real people would connect with others online. He was 23 and she was 38 when they met.
“I had tried The Facebook, as it was first called, but still thought the internet was a largely anonymous place to look for funny pictures,” she said, adding, “I could never have predicted how my life would change if I met him.”
Her job at Facebook was chaotic at first, she said. During her first summer at the company, Zuckerberg traveled and was unavailable for long periods of time, leaving the company in Sandberg’s hands.
But the two maintained a close, confidential relationship, she said, in which they trusted and relied on each other to find the best path for the company.
“In the critical moments of my life, in the highest highs and in the depths of true lows, I never had to turn to Mark because he was already there,” she said in a tribute to the founder.
But the two drifted further apart when it was revealed that Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm, had used data collected from Facebook users to target voters.
Sheryl Sandberg wed businessman Tom Bernthal in a cowboy wedding in Wyoming, where the groom’s movie star brother served as best man in August
Sandberg said she will focus on a new philanthropic endeavor but gave no further details, focusing on raising her five children
Sanderberg was responsible for Facebook’s public image, with their relationship growing strained as the company’s reputation grew increasingly tarnished.
In press conferences and interviews with The New York Times, Sandberg noted that the company had removed many pages in support of the Proud Boys, a far-right militia, and “stop the steal” groups supporting former President Donald J. Trump legitimate winners of the 2020 election.
But enforcement isn’t perfect, she added, and some content slipped through the cracks.
The relationship between Zuckerberg and Sandberg never survived Trump, the New York Times claimed in 2019.
After leaving Meta on Aug. 1, her rep announced that Sandberg will remain with the company as a board member — and remain close to the company and the boss she has spent the past 14 years with.