(NewsNation) — Sheryl Sandberg, the No. 2 executive at Facebook owner Meta, is stepping down, according to a post Wednesday on her Facebook page. Sandberg has served as chief operating officer at the social media giant for 14 years. She joined from Google in 2008, four years before Facebook went public.
Meta did not immediately respond to a message for comment.
“When I took this job in 2008, I hoped I would be in this role for five years. Fourteen years later, it is time for me to write the next chapter of my life,” Sandberg wrote on her Facebook page.
She will continue to serve on Meta’s board of directors.
Sandberg has led Facebook — now Meta’s — advertising business and was responsible for nurturing it from its infancy into a more than $100 billion-a-year powerhouse.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in his own Facebook post that he doesn’t plan to replace Sandberg in the company’s existing structure. Javier Olivan will serve as Meta’s new COO.
Zuckerberg said, “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.”
While Sandberg has long been Zuckerberg’s No. 2, even sitting next to him — pre-pandemic, at least — in the company’s Menlo Park, California, headquarters, she also had a very public-facing job, meeting with lawmakers, holding focus groups and speaking out on issues such as women in the workplace and, most recently, abortion.
“I am so immensely proud of everything this team has achieved. The businesses we’ve helped and the business we’ve built. The culture we’ve nurtured together,” her statement said. “And I’m especially proud that this is a company where many, many exceptional women and people from diverse backgrounds have risen through our ranks and become leaders — both in our company and in leadership roles elsewhere.”
Sandberg also addressed how the debate around social media has “changed beyond recognition” since its early days.
Facebook has come under heavy scrutiny from governments around the world in recent years, which Sandberg did not directly address in her statement, particularly after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which found the data-mining firm gathered data on 87 million Facebook users without their permission. That data may have been used to manipulate the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
“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,” Sandberg said. “Just as I believe wholeheartedly in our mission, our industry, and the overwhelmingly positive power of connecting people, I and the dedicated people of Meta have felt our responsibilities deeply. I know that the extraordinary team at Meta will continue to work tirelessly to rise to these challenges and keep making our company and our community better. I also know that our platforms will continue to be an engine of growth for the businesses around the world that rely on us.”