Sheryl Sandberg stepping down as Meta COO to focus on philanthropic work

Sheryl Sandberg announced stepping down as Meta COO through an official Facebook post on Thursday.  Sandberg said she will leave her post in the fall but will retain a seat on the board.

Sheryl Sandberg, COO at Meta Platforms, announced stepping down from her position after 14 years. Sandberg, second most important person at Meta after Mark Zuckerberg, announced her departure through an official Facebook post on Thursday. Sandberg said she will leave her post in the fall but will retain a seat on the board. Javier Olivan will be the next Chief Operating Officer, Meta CEO announced through an official Facebook post.

CEO Zuckerberg calls Sandberg's departure an “end of an era”. “After 14 years, my good friend and partner Sheryl Sandberg is stepping down as COO of Meta,” Zuckerberg stated in an official post on Facebook. Zuckerberg said that he doesn’t plan to replace “Sheryl's role in our (the) existing structure”.

“I'm not sure that would be possible since she's a superstar who defined the COO role in her own unique way. But even if it were possible, I think Meta has reached the point where it makes sense for our product and business groups to be more closely integrated, rather than having all the business and operations functions organized separately from our products,” he noted in the FB post.

Javier Olivan will be the next Meta COO but the role will be very different from Sandberg's. “Javi will become our next Chief Operating Officer since he will now lead our integrated ads and business products in addition to continuing to lead our infrastructure, integrity, analytics, marketing, corporate development and growth teams. But this role will be different from what Sheryl has done. It will be a more traditional COO role where Javi will be focused internally and operationally, building on his strong track record of making our execution more efficient and rigorous. As part of this, Molly Cutler, our VP Strategic Response, will join Javi's team and report to Naomi Gleit,” Zuckerberg said explaining the new structure and how the company will operate once Sandberg officially leaves as COO of Meta later this year.

Zuckerbeg said, “I'm going to miss running this company with Sheryl. But I'm glad that she'll continue to serve on our board of directors so we can benefit from her wisdom and experience even after she transitions out of her day-to-day management role in the coming months."

Going forward, Sandberg said she will focus more on her foundation and philanthropic work. “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,” she revealed in the official post. As said, she will continue to be a part of the board.

“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,” Sandberg noted in the Facebook post.