Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - Sheryl Sandberg's departure from Meta Platforms Inc comes at a critical time for Facebook's par...
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| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - Sheryl Sandberg's departure from Meta Platforms Inc comes at a critical time for Facebook's parent company, as it pivots to "metaverse" in the face of dwindling ad revenue, though Wall Street analysts predict her departure will be minor.
In her 14 years as Facebook's second-in-command to founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Sandberg helped turn the firm from a buzzy startup to a technology juggernaut, helping to raise its ad income from $272 million to over $100 billion.
As the social-media network became mired in a series of issues, including a data scandal involving British business Cambridge Analytica, she was also the company's face in dealing with authorities in Washington.
As Sandberg moves on, "Meta is a more mature business with fixed processes," according to JMP Securities analyst Andrew Boone.
"While we recognize Sandberg's contribution to Meta's advertising business, the firm now has the infrastructure and mechanisms in place to weather most departures, including Sandberg's," says the statement.
Sandberg, a Harvard graduate, joined Facebook from Google in 2008 after serving as the US Treasury Department's chief of staff under former President Bill Clinton.
When Sandberg steps down, Javier Olivan, the company's current chief growth officer, will take over as COO.
"I'm more concerned about the metaverse's eventual conclusion and the impact of earnings over the next few years than who is sitting in the post of COO," Thomas Hayes, managing member of Great Hill Capital LLC in New York, said.
Former British deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, who was appointed in 2018 to lead the company's global policy unit, could have a bigger role in negotiating with regulators, according to MKM Partners analyst Rohit Kulkarni.
