Sheryl Sandberg facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sheryl Sandberg
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Sandberg in 2013
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Sheryl Kara Sandberg
August 28, 1969 Washington, D.C., U.S.
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| Education | Harvard University (AB, MBA) |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1991–2022 |
| Title | Chief Operating Officer of Meta Platforms (2008–2022) |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Board member of | Meta Platforms Women for Women International Center for Global Development SurveyMonkey |
| Spouse(s) |
Brian Kraff
(m. 1993; div. 1994)Tom Bernthal
(m. 2022) |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Jon Bernthal (brother-in-law) |
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Sheryl Kara Sandberg (born August 28, 1969) is an American business leader, helper, and writer. She was the chief operating officer (COO) of Meta Platforms (which used to be called Facebook) from 2008 to 2022. Sheryl Sandberg also started a group called LeanIn.Org to help women.
She was the first woman chosen to be on Facebook's board of directors. As the head of Facebook's advertising business, she helped the company become very successful and make money. Before joining Facebook, Sheryl worked at Google. There, she was a vice president for online sales. She also helped with Google's charity work, Google.org.
Sheryl Sandberg went to Harvard University. After that, she worked for Lawrence Summers at the World Bank. Later, she was his main assistant when he became the United States Secretary of the Treasury for President Bill Clinton. In 2012, she was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine. In 2021, she was reported to be a billionaire. This was because of her shares in Facebook and other companies.
In 2022, she announced she would leave her COO role at Meta. She stayed on Meta's board of directors. In January 2024, she shared that she would not run for re-election to the board in May 2024.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Sheryl Sandberg was born in 1969 in Washington, D.C.. She grew up in a Jewish family. She is the oldest of three children. Her parents are Adele and Joel Sandberg. Her father is an eye doctor. Her mother was a college professor who taught French. Her family moved to North Miami Beach, Florida, when she was two.
She went to North Miami Beach High School. She graduated in 1987 as one of the top students. She was president of her sophomore class. She was also part of the National Honor Society. In the 1980s, while in high school, she taught aerobics.
In 1987, Sheryl started at Harvard College. She graduated in 1991 with top honors in economics. She also won an award for being the best economics student. At Harvard, she helped start a group called Women in Economics and Government. She met Professor Lawrence Summers, who became her guide. Summers asked her to be his assistant at the World Bank. She worked there for about a year. She helped with health projects in India. These projects dealt with diseases like leprosy and AIDS.
In 1993, she went to Harvard Business School. She earned her MBA in 1995 with the highest honors. She received a special scholarship in her first year.
Career Journey
Starting Her Career
After finishing business school in 1995, Sheryl Sandberg worked as a management consultant for McKinsey & Company. She stayed there for about a year. From 1996 to 2001, she worked again for Lawrence Summers. He was then the United States Secretary of the Treasury for President Bill Clinton. Sheryl helped the Treasury with debt relief for developing countries. This work happened during the Asian financial crisis.
Sheryl joined Google in 2001. She was in charge of online sales for Google's ads. She also managed sales for Google's consumer products. During her time at Google, she helped the sales team grow a lot. It went from four people to 4,000.
Leading at Facebook and Meta
In late 2007, Mark Zuckerberg, who started Facebook, met Sheryl Sandberg. Zuckerberg was looking for a Chief Operating Officer (COO). He thought Sheryl was a "perfect fit" for the job. In March 2008, Facebook announced that Sheryl was joining as COO. She left Google for this new role.
After joining Facebook, Sheryl quickly worked to make the company profitable. Before she arrived, Facebook was mainly focused on building a cool website. They thought profits would come later. By 2010, Facebook started making money. Sheryl oversaw many parts of the company's business. This included sales, marketing, and human resources.
In 2012, she became the eighth person on Facebook's board of directors. She was the first woman to join the board. In April 2014, reports showed she had sold more than half of her Facebook shares. She still owned about 17.2 million shares. This was worth about $1 billion at the time.
In 2018, The New York Times wrote about Sheryl's role. It discussed how she handled Facebook's public image. This was after news about Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections came out. It also covered the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. The Wall Street Journal reported that Mark Zuckerberg blamed Sheryl for the scandal's outcome. Sheryl told friends she was worried about her job.
On November 29, 2018, The New York Times reported something else. Sheryl had asked Facebook staff to research George Soros's money. This happened after Soros criticized tech companies like Facebook. Facebook said the research was already happening. Sheryl just asked if Soros had bet against Facebook's stock.
On June 1, 2022, Sheryl announced she would leave Meta as COO. She said it was "time for me to write the next chapter of my life." She remained on the board of directors. In January 2024, she announced she would step down from the board in May. She did not run for re-election.
Boards and Other Work
In 2009, Sheryl Sandberg joined the board of The Walt Disney Company. She also serves on the boards of Women for Women International and the Center for Global Development. She is also on the board of V-Day. She was previously a board member for Meta and Starbucks.
Lean In Book
Sheryl Sandberg released her first book, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, on March 11, 2013. She wrote it with Nell Scovell.
The book talks about leadership in business. It discusses why there are not enough women in leadership roles. It also covers ideas about feminism. By the fall of 2013, the book had sold over one million copies. It was a bestseller since it came out.
Lean In aims to help professional women reach their career goals. It also helps men who want a more fair society. The book says that women still face challenges in the workplace. These include unfair treatment and harassment. Sandberg also says women sometimes create their own barriers. This happens by believing in old ideas about gender roles. She argues that for things to change, women need to break these barriers. They should aim for and get leadership roles. The main goal is to encourage women to "lean in" to leadership. She believes more female leaders will create better chances for everyone.
A truly equal world would be one where women ran half our countries and companies and men ran half our homes.
Some people criticized the book. They said Sheryl was "too elitist." They also said she didn't understand the struggles of average women. For example, some felt the book didn't address challenges for mothers. Sheryl mentions these points in her book's introduction. She says she knows most women struggle to support their families. She wanted to offer advice that would have helped her earlier in life.
Option B Book
Sheryl Sandberg released her second book, Option B, in April 2017. She wrote it with Adam Grant, a professor. This book focuses on dealing with grief and building resilience in life's challenges. It gives helpful tips for families and communities. Over 2.75 million copies have been sold.
Ban Bossy Campaign
In March 2014, Sheryl Sandberg and Lean In started the Ban Bossy campaign. This was a TV and social media effort. It aimed to stop using the word bossy. They felt it hurt young girls. Videos with famous people like Beyoncé and Jennifer Garner were made. A website also offered school materials and leadership tips. People could promise not to use the word.
Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Foundation
In November 2016, Sheryl Sandberg changed the name of her Lean In Foundation. It became the Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Foundation. This was named after her and her late husband. This new foundation includes LeanIn.Org and a new group for her book Option B. Sheryl also gave about $100 million in Facebook stock to fund the foundation.
Screams Before Silence Film
In April 2024, a documentary called Screams Before Silence was released on YouTube. Sheryl Sandberg was the main person in the film. The film talks about alleged violence during the October 7th attack on Israel. Sheryl has called this film the most important work of her life.
Personal Life
Sheryl Sandberg married Brian Kraff in 1993. They divorced a year later. In 2004, she married Dave Goldberg. He was an executive at Yahoo! and later CEO of SurveyMonkey. They had a son and a daughter. Sheryl and Dave often talked about sharing family duties and work. Sheryl also spoke about how hard it is for single parents to balance work and family.
On May 1, 2015, Dave Goldberg died unexpectedly. His death was first reported as a head injury from falling off a treadmill in Mexico. However, an autopsy later suggested he died from a heart problem. Sheryl confirmed this in an interview.
Sheryl Sandberg dated Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick from 2016 to 2019. On February 3, 2020, she announced her engagement to Kelton Global CEO Tom Bernthal. They married in August 2022. Tom has three children, and Sheryl has two. They live together in Menlo Park, California.
Political Views
Sheryl Sandberg supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. She did not support Elizabeth Warren in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. Warren was a critic of Facebook. However, Sheryl said she would likely support a Democratic candidate over Donald Trump. Sheryl endorsed Kamala Harris for president in 2024.
Honors and Recognition
- Sheryl Sandberg has been named one of the "Most Powerful Women in Business" by Fortune Magazine many times:
- In 2007, she was No. 29 and the youngest woman on the list.
- In 2017, she was No. 5.
- In 2018, she was No. 6.
- She was also on The Wall Street Journal's list of "Women to Watch."
- Business Week named her one of the "25 Most Influential People on the Web" in 2009.
- Forbes has listed her as one of the world's 100 most powerful women. She was No. 4 in 2017 and No. 36 in 2021.
- In 2012, Newsweek and The Daily Beast ranked her No. 3 in the "Evangelists" category of their "Digital Power Index."
- In 2012, she was included in the Time 100 list of influential people.
- Her book Lean In was nominated for the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award in 2013.
- In 2013, The Jerusalem Post ranked her No. 8 on "The World's 50 Most Influential Jews."
Books Written
- Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. Knopf. 2013. ISBN: 978-0385349949
- Written with Adam Grant: Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience and Finding Joy. Knopf. 2017. ISBN: 978-1524732684
See also
In Spanish: Sheryl Sandberg para niños
