While Zuckerberg named Javier Olivan, a longtime executive, to take over Sheryl Sandberg's job when she departs, the importance of the chief operating officer role has diminished at Meta, which was formerly known as Facebook
A name card for Sheryl Sandberg, then the chief operating officer of Facebook, before she testified at a Senate hearing in Washington, Sept. 4, 2018. When Sandberg, 52, said that she would step down from Meta, she crystallized an unspoken change at the tech giant: Mark Zuckerberg no longer has any clear No. 2. (Eric Thayer/The New York Times)
For more than a decade, Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg began and ended each week by meeting together.
The symbolism of the ritual was clear. It was intended to signal that Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, and Sandberg, the chief operating officer, were in lockstep with each other at the top of the company.
But when Sandberg, 52, said Wednesday that she would step down from Meta this fall, she crystallized an unspoken change at the tech giant: Zuckerberg no longer has any clear No. 2.
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