Sandberg, 52, announced Wednesday that she was stepping down as COO after a 14-year stint at a company she helped transform from a social media website for college students into a mammoth digital-advertising business. Sandberg, who has positioned herself as a champion of women in the workplace, said she would be leaving Facebook to spend more time with her family and on her philanthropic work.
“I’d like to think the career I’ve had and the career of other female leaders inspires women to know that they can lead,” she said in an interview with The Washington Post. “If you were growing up 100 years ago, you wouldn’t have known a single woman in business. If you are growing up today, you know some. I hope my daughters are going to grow up in a world where there are a lot more.”
As one of the wealthiest self-made female billionaires in the world, Sandberg was a symbol that women could make it to the top of a male-dominated industry like Sillcon Valley tech companies. Her advice to women who wanted to ascend higher in their careers was simply to “lean in,” or be more assertive at their jobs, which became a cultural phenomenon. Her 2010 TED Talk, a best-selling book and the nonprofit foundation Lean In propelled her into a kind of corporate stardom that few chief operating officers enjoy while being second-in-command at their companies.
Sandberg was among Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s most trusted deputies for years, and people spoke of the two informally as “co-CEOs” — making her one of the few high-powered women at the helm of a tech giant.
“This is a big loss in terms of just having women represented in Silicon Valley in a meaningful way,” said Crystal Patterson, a former senior manager at Facebook and current managing director at the lobbying firm Washington Media Group. “There isn’t another Sheryl.”
Over the years, Sandberg has struggled to retain her voice as a champion of women as Facebook, which changed its name to Meta last year, continued to be overrun with political controversies during her tenure. Sandberg has faced criticism over, among other things, viral covid misinformation and the role the company played in spreading former president Donald Trump’s false claims that 2020 presidential election was rigged.
“Her value as a messenger definitely shifted over time with the fortunes of the company,” Patterson added.
While women have made small gains in ascending to the highest levels of…
Read More: Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s departure marks end of an era for