Sheryl Sandberg Set To Leave Facebook After 14 years

Books she wrote, including Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead – which she described as a “sort of feminist manifesto” – made her a global celebrity.

But her star power faded as the company faced criticism for its handling of personal data in relation to political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica and targeted adverts as well as its moderation of social media posts.

Ms Sandberg, who was initially responsible for Facebook’s response, appeared to acknowledge some of those challenges in her post, writing: “The debate around social media has changed beyond recognition since those early days.”

“To say it hasn’t always been easy is an understatement. But it should be hard,” she wrote. “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.”

In his own post, Mr Zuckerberg said Ms Sandberg’s departure marked the “end of an era”, noting that it was “unusual” for a business partnership like theirs to last so long.

“Sheryl architected our ads business, hired great people, forged our management culture, and taught me how to run a company,” he added. “She created opportunities for millions of people around the world, and she deserves the credit for so much of what Meta is today.”

He said Mr Olivan’s responsibilities would differ from Ms Sandberg’s, with Mr Olivan taking on a “more traditional” chief operating officer role that was more focused internally and operationally.

Meta is facing new challenges as countries tighten social media regulations and iPhone maker Apple changes its privacy rules, hitting the social media firm’s targeted ad business.

Growth in the number of Facebook users in key markets, such as the US, has been stalled, and it has lost younger users to rivals such as TikTok.

Mr Zuckerberg has been pushing the company to invest heavily in virtual and augmented reality platforms, which he sees as driving the firm’s next phase of growth. He renamed the company Meta last year in honour of the shift to the “metaverse”.