“After 14 years I will leave Meta,” he said on Facebook on Wednesday Sheryl Sandberg, The COO of the American social media giant, who will remain on the firm’s board. His close collaboration with CEO Mark Zuckerberg has helped grow the platform.

“When I got this job in 2008, I expected to be in this position for five years. “Fourteen years later, it is time to write the next chapter of my life,” he said. The announcement caused the shares of the social media company to initially fall by 4%, but in subsequent trading they traded almost unchanged.

Chief Development Officer Javier Olivan will take over as Chief Operating Officer, Zuckerberg reported in another post, though he added that he does not intend to change Sandberg’s role directly into the company’s current structure. Olivan has worked at Meta for over 14 years and has led teams working on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger.

Sandberg’s departure marks the end of the Meta Agewhich Focus on hardware products and “metaversion” After years of scandals over the breach of privacy and the spread of conspiratorial content on its platforms, as well as the stagnation of user growth on its flagship Facebook app.

Sandberg, Zuckerberg’s second-in-command and who was 23 when he was hired, He is one of the company’s most prominent executives and the chief architect of his business modelOften criticized, based on advertising.

Bringing his management experience and knowledge to the then new digital advertising industry, Facebook has transformed from a startup into a revenue giantWhile positioning as The face of feminism In corporate America.

Facebook’s revenue at the time was $ 272 million, with a net loss of $ 56 million, according to regulatory documents. In 2011, a year before the company’s initial public offering, its revenue rose to $ 3.7 billion, from a profit of $ 1 billion.

Meta ended 2021 with $ 118 billion in revenue and $ 39.4 billion in profits.

Sandberg, who has long been regarded as a “grown-up” youth company, has found himself at the center of controversy over his role in responding to criticism from the social media giant.

He has been criticized, in particular, for an awkward attempt to investigate George Soros, a billionaire investor, after he attacked an online network as a “public threat”. Facebook acknowledged that Sandberg had asked his staff to investigate the Hungarian billionaire’s allegations that he was holding a “short” position that would benefit from a reduction in shares.

Among tech wunderkinds, Sandberg has offered a stronger hand as a result of his experience working with former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and Google Philanthropy Group.

In 2015, Sandberg was devastated by the sudden death of his wife, American tech executive David Goldberg, at a luxury resort in Mexico. Two years ago, he announced his engagement to marketing executive Tom Berntal.

This was announced by Sandberg in his post Will continue to be a member of the Meta Board of Directors After leaving the company in the fall.

When asked about his next steps, he told her Reuters that She focused on philanthropy at a “critical moment for women.”

“We have hired many great leaders. I feel really good about it. The next management team is ready to move the company forward, ”he said, citing Marne Levine, chief business officer, and Nick Clegg, president of global relations.

The meta-economic model, which is based on large-scale, targeted advertising that requires a lot of personal data, has been the subject of controversy since 2016.

Many authorities accuse him of abusing his dominant position, as does his neighbor Google, the world leader in digital advertising.

(According to Reuters, EFE and AFP)

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