Sheryl Sandberg, the former Chief Operating Officer of Meta Platforms, revealed her intention to step down from the company’s board of directors after 12 years of service, as announced in her Facebook post on Wednesday.

As Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg

Under Sheryl Sandberg’s business leadership, Meta’s revenue grew 43,000% from $272 million in 2008 to nearly $118 billion in 2021.

Sheryl Sandberg, 54, joined Facebook in 2008 as COO after spending about seven years at Google. In 2012, she became a board member at the company. During her tenure as COO, Facebook rose from a highflying startup to become one of the most valuable companies in the world, topping a $1 trillion market cap at its peak in 2021.

Sheryl Sandberg Meta departure

Sandberg announced her departure from Meta as COO in mid-2022. Sheryl Sandberg departure from Meta was following multiple controversies that dogged the company and sullied its reputation among users, lawmakers and investors. Most notably, Facebook was central to the spread of disinformation ahead of the 2016 election and during the early days of the Covid pandemic in 2020. The company has also been in the subject of antitrust investigations and was scrutinized in Sandberg’s waning days for its insufficient efforts to combat hate on its platform.

When Sheryl Sandberg stepped down as Meta COO in June 2022, she was replaced by Javier Olivan, who had been serving as Meta’s chief growth officer.

New chapter for Sheryl Sandberg

Since leaving Meta, Sheryl Sandberg has dedicated much of her time on her LeanIn.org nonprofit, which focuses on empowering women in the workplace, and related projects.

“I wanted my new chapter to be able to really make a difference,” Sandberg told CNBC Make It in August. “We’ve been in development on this since I was at Meta, but being able to have the time to put into [this launch] and to really be … a bigger part of this has meant a lot to me.”

Mark Zuckerberg on Sheryl Sandberg’ departure

Shortly after Sheryl Sandberg’s post on stepping down as Meta board of directors, Zuckerberg responded with a short reply.

“Thank you Sheryl for the extraordinary contributions you have made to our company and community over the years,” Zuckerberg wrote. “Your dedication and guidance have been instrumental in driving our success and I am grateful for your unwavering commitment to me and Meta over the years. I look forward to this next chapter together!”

Meta technology chief Adam Bosworth wrote, “Amazing run Sheryl, thank you so much for everything you did for all of us and also for me personally.”

Meta board of directors

Meta board members consists of Zuckerberg, who serves as chairman, as well as former PayPal Executive Vice President Peggy Alford, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, Dropbox CEO Drew Houston, former McKinsey & Company senior partner Nancy Killefer, former U.S. deputy secretary of the treasury Robert M. Kimmitt, DoorDash CEO Tony Xu and Tracey T. Travis, a former CFO at Estée Lauder

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