• by Colin Kirkland , January 19, 2024

Sheryl Sandberg, Meta’s first chief operating officer and one of the company’s most publicly recognized executives, has announced she will be leaving the company’s board of directors in May. 

"I let the Meta board know that I will not stand for reelection this May,” Sandberg said in the Facebook post. “The Meta business is strong and well positioned for the future, so this feels like the right time to step away.” 

Sandberg said she would always remain an adviser to the company. 

Sandberg stepped down from her role as chief operating officer in June 2022 after 14 years in the role, with Meta’s previous Chief Growth Officer Javier Olivan succeeding her in the position.

In a comment on Sandberg’s Facebook post, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Sandberg has been “instrumental” in driving the company’s success, adding that he looks “forward to this next chapter together.”

Sandberg -- who joined the company known then as Facebook in 2008 from Google -- is best known for overseeing the company’s move into digital advertising and building out Meta’s massively successful advertising business model, which led to 97% of the tech giant’s $117 billion turnover in 2022. 

During her time at the company, Sandberg faced criticism amidst some Meta’s biggest controversies, including the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the incremental use of the Facebook app in helping organize the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6 2021, as well as ongoing concerns over the company’s privacy and data-collection practices. 

As Sandberg departs the company’s advisory board, Meta faces heightened scrutiny over its alleged failure to protect children on its family of social platforms.

On Wednesday of this week, internal Meta documents about child safety were unsealed due to an ongoing lawsuit, revealing that the company intentionally marketed its platforms to children despite internal knowledge that its apps facilitated inappropriate and harmful relationships between adults and minors.