Sheryl Sandberg steps down as Meta COO

Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Meta, Facebook’s parent company, is leaving the company after 14 years, she announced on Wednesday.

In a lengthy post on Facebook, Sandberg thanked founder Mark Zuckerberg for tapping her for the job and addressed social media’s growing influence in the world — and the responsibility that comes with that.

“The debate around social media has changed beyond recognition since those early days,” she said in the post. “To say it hasn’t always been easy is an understatement. But it should be hard. 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. 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.”