Sheryl Sandberg

Sheryl Kara Sandberg (born August 28, 1969) is an American business executive, billionaire, and philanthropist who served as chief operating officer (COO) of Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) from 2008 to 2022. She is best known for transforming Facebook from an unprofitable social network into a highly profitable advertising powerhouse and for her 2013 bestselling book "Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead," which sparked a global conversation about women in leadership. Sandberg's career has been marked by extraordinary business success alongside significant controversies, including her role in Facebook's handling of privacy scandals, election interference, and genocide facilitation.

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Early life and education

Sheryl Kara Sandberg was born on August 28, 1969, in Washington, D.C., to Joel Sandberg, an ophthalmologist, and Adele Sandberg (née Einhorn), a college professor of French. She is the eldest of three children; her siblings, David and Michelle, both became physicians—David a pediatric neurologist/neurosurgeon and Michelle a pediatrician. Her siblings later joked at her wedding that as one- and three-year-olds, they were her "first employees."

When Sandberg was two years old, her family moved to North Miami Beach, Florida. Born into a Jewish family with strong activist roots, her heritage traces back to her great-great-grandmother who fled Lithuania in 1889 to escape religious persecution, arriving at Ellis Island. Her grandmother Syd Sandberg served as president of the local Hadassah chapter in New York, and her great-aunt Frieda Sandberg Lewis was Hadassah national president in the early 1980s.

Her parents were deeply committed to Jewish causes. In 1975, they were arrested in Kishinev, Soviet Moldova, while meeting with Jews who wanted to emigrate to Israel, and were subsequently expelled from the country. Sandberg grew up attending rallies supporting Jews leaving the Soviet Union. She has stated, "Judaism is my home, Judaism is super important to me, in death and in life."

Sandberg attended North Miami Beach High School, where she graduated in 1987, ranking ninth in her class with a 4.646 GPA. She served as sophomore class president and was a member of the National Honor Society and the senior class executive board. During high school, she taught aerobics classes in the 1980s, wearing "leggings, leg warmers and bright eye shadow."

At Harvard College, Sandberg majored in economics, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1991. She was awarded the John H. Williams Prize for the top graduating student in economics. She co-founded the organization Women in Economics and Government and was mentored by Professor Lawrence Summers, who served as her thesis adviser. Her senior thesis, "How Economic Inequality Contributes to Spousal Abuse," examined causal links between income disparities and domestic violence rates using econometric analysis.

She earned her MBA from Harvard Business School in 1995, graduating with highest distinction.

Personal life

Marriages and relationships

Sandberg's first marriage was to Brian Kraff in 1993, whom she met at Harvard. She was 24 years old. The marriage lasted approximately one year, with the couple divorcing in 1994. The brief union was described as "two young people growing apart," and details about the divorce were not widely publicized.

In the 1990s, Sandberg met Dave Goldberg through a mutual friend. They went to a diner in Westwood and watched the movie "Courage Under Fire." They had "a very special connection at dinner," and Sandberg fell asleep on Goldberg's shoulder during the film. Goldberg described it as an "instant connection." However, Sandberg was dating someone else at the time, and shortly after meeting, she moved to Washington, D.C. The two remained friends for years while living in different cities.

In early 2002, both were single—Sandberg was working at Google in San Francisco, and Goldberg was in Los Angeles. They decided to spend winter break 2002 together. Goldberg organized and paid for a trip to South America, though Sandberg thought they were going to San Diego. "That was kind of our first date," Goldberg later said. They got engaged six months later and married in 2004.

Dave Goldberg was an accomplished entrepreneur. Born October 2, 1967, he started his career at Bain & Company before moving to Capitol Records as director of marketing strategy. He founded LAUNCH Media Inc. in 1994, which was acquired by Yahoo! in 2001. He served as vice president and general manager of Yahoo! Music, growing it from 2 million to 25 million unique monthly users. In 2009, he became chairman and CEO of SurveyMonkey. Sandberg described their 11 years of marriage as "11 truly joyful years of the deepest love, happiest marriage, and truest partnership." They were known for their shared-earning, shared-parenting marriage, and Goldberg was frequently cited as an "exceptionally devoted dad from day one."

On May 1, 2015, Goldberg died suddenly while the couple was vacationing at a private beach-front villa near the Four Seasons Hotel in Punta Mita, Mexico. His brother Robert found him on a gym treadmill floor around 7 p.m. He was transported to Hospital San Javier in Nuevo Vallarta with weak vital signs but died at the hospital. Initially, his death was attributed to severe head trauma from falling off a treadmill, but an autopsy later revealed the primary cause was a heart arrhythmia caused by undiagnosed coronary artery disease. The cardiac event likely caused him to fall, leading to the fatal head injury. Goldberg was 47 years old, and their children were 10 and 7 at the time.

In spring 2019, Sandberg was introduced to Tom Bernthal by Rob Goldberg, Dave Goldberg's brother, who remained close with Sandberg after Dave's death. Bernthal is the founder and former CEO of Kelton Global, a strategic consulting agency he co-founded in March 2002. He previously worked at the White House Communication Office during the Bill Clinton administration and as a news producer for NBC News. He is the brother of actor Jon Bernthal. Bernthal had three children from a previous marriage that ended in divorce.

Sandberg and Bernthal got engaged on February 1, 2020. The engagement ring featured five tiny hidden diamonds underneath, symbolizing their blended family of five children. In fall 2020, both families moved in together to Sandberg's Bay Area home. They married in August 2022 at the Four Seasons Resort in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. All five children served as members of the bridal party. Bernthal said, "After both experiencing loss, Sheryl and I weren't sure we would ever find love again. Over the last three years, we've merged our lives and blended our families."

Children and family

Sandberg has two children with Dave Goldberg—a son born around 2005 and a daughter born around 2008. She has kept their names private to protect their privacy. Tom Bernthal brought three children from his previous marriage—two boys and one girl. The blended family of seven calls themselves the "BarnBergs" and lives in Menlo Park, California.

Career

Early career (1991–2001)

From 1991 to 1993, Sandberg worked as a research assistant for Lawrence Summers at the World Bank, focusing on health projects in India dealing with leprosy, AIDS, and blindness. After earning her MBA in 1995, she spent approximately one year as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company.

In 1996, Sandberg joined the U.S. Treasury Department as chief of staff to Lawrence Summers, who served first as deputy secretary (1995–1999) and then as secretary (1999–2001). She assisted in the Treasury's work on forgiving debt in the developing world during the Asian financial crisis.

Google (2001–2008)

Sandberg joined Google in 2001 as vice president of global online sales and operations. She was responsible for online sales of advertising and publishing products, as well as sales operations of consumer products and Google Book Search. She helped develop and oversee AdWords (text ads on search results) and AdSense (ads on partner websites), growing the ad and sales team from 4 people to 4,000. Under her leadership, Google's advertising revenue grew from modest levels to billions of dollars, making the company highly profitable.

Facebook/Meta (2008–2022)

In late 2007, Sandberg met Mark Zuckerberg at a Christmas party hosted by Dan Rosensweig. They talked for about an hour by the door. Over the next six weeks, they had dinner once or twice a week at Sandberg's six-bedroom home. Zuckerberg, then 23 years old, had no formal COO search but thought Sandberg was "a perfect fit" for Facebook. In March 2008, she joined Facebook as its first chief operating officer.

Sandberg created the advertising strategy that transformed Facebook from an unprofitable social network losing $56 million in 2008 into a highly profitable company. Revenue grew from $150 million in 2007 to $272 million in 2008, then to $3.7 billion in 2010, eventually reaching $118 billion in 2021. Advertising accounted for 97% of Meta's income by 2021. She became the first woman elected to Facebook's board of directors in 2012 and helped execute the company's successful 2012 IPO.

At her peak in 2014, 43% of Facebook employees reported to her. However, by 2021, only 31% of employees reported to her, reflecting reduced responsibilities. Between Facebook's 2012 IPO and her 2022 departure, she methodically sold between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion worth of stock.

On June 1, 2022, Sandberg announced she would step down as COO in fall 2022, citing a desire to focus on philanthropy and advocacy work. She stated the job was "24/7" and "not a job you can do and also do other things." She noted that women's reproductive rights were at a crucial moment following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Javier Olivan, the chief growth officer, succeeded her as COO. She remained on the board of directors until May 2024.

"Lean In" and advocacy

In 2013, Sandberg published "Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead," co-written with Nell Scovell. The book became a #1 international bestseller and was called "a landmark manifesto" by The New York Times. Her related TED talk has been viewed over 11 million times. The book encouraged women to "sit at the table," seek challenges, and take risks in their careers. She founded LeanIn.Org, a nonprofit organization that created "Lean In Circles"—peer groups for women to share experiences and build leadership skills.

In April 2017, following Dave Goldberg's death, Sandberg published "Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy," co-authored with Wharton professor Adam Grant. The book became a #1 New York Times bestseller and explores building resilience after life-shattering experiences. The title comes from a friend's comment after Goldberg's death: "Option A is not available." She created OptionB.Org, a nonprofit supporting people dealing with adversity.

In November 2016, she renamed her foundation the Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Foundation and transferred approximately $100 million in Facebook stock to fund it. The foundation supports LeanIn.Org, OptionB.Org, and various causes including education, poverty alleviation, and Jewish advocacy.

Controversies

Cambridge Analytica scandal

In March 2018, it was revealed that Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm, had improperly accessed data from 87 million Facebook users and used it to target voters for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Facebook had known about the data mishandling 2.5 years earlier but failed to follow up and never audited Cambridge Analytica's data holdings.

Sandberg and the company remained silent for five days after the reports emerged. She later admitted, "We made mistakes and I own them and they are on me." She acknowledged, "We were way too idealistic. We did not think enough about the abuse cases." CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly blamed Sandberg for the scandal, rattling her confidence. The incident made Sandberg one of the "faces of exploitation of people's privacy."

Myanmar genocide

The Myanmar military systematically used Facebook as a tool for ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya Muslims. The platform was used to spread hate propaganda, false news, and inflammatory posts over several years. UN researchers determined that Facebook helped drive the genocide, which resulted in an estimated 10,000 or more deaths beginning in 2017.

In September 2018, Sandberg testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee, calling the situation "devastating" and acknowledging the need to do more. Facebook's failure to hire enough Burmese-language speakers contributed to its slow response. Sandberg accepted potential legal obligation to remove accounts that incentivized violence.

Russian election interference

Facebook leadership attempted to bury the extent of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election from intelligence agencies, Congress, and the public. Sandberg was accused of downplaying internal findings on Russian meddling and censoring the security team's attempts to publish findings. Security chief Alex Stamos was pushed out for making Zuckerberg and Sandberg face "inconvenient truths."

In September 2018 testimony to the Senate, Sandberg conceded the company "was too slow to spot this and too slow to act."

Definers Public Affairs and lobbying

In November 2018, The New York Times reported that Sandberg had "overseen an aggressive lobbying campaign to combat Facebook's critics," including hiring the opposition research firm Definers Public Affairs. Initially, Sandberg denied knowing about or hiring the firm. The following week, she admitted she had known about Definers and took full responsibility. The revelation damaged her reputation as a transparency advocate.

Bobby Kotick controversy

In 2022, it was revealed that while dating Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick from 2016 to 2019, Sandberg learned that a 2014 temporary restraining order had been filed against him by an ex-girlfriend. Concerned about damage to her reputation as a women's advocate, Sandberg and Kotick assembled a team including Facebook and Activision employees plus paid advisers to pressure the Daily Mail not to publish a story about the restraining order. The Daily Mail never published the story. Kotick allegedly told associates that Sandberg had threatened the Daily Mail's business relationship with Facebook, though both parties denied wrongdoing.

Meta launched an internal investigation into the matter. The investigation was cited as one factor in the timing of her 2022 departure, though Meta spokespeople disputed this claim.

Awards and recognition

Sandberg has received numerous accolades:

Time 100 Most Influential People (2012, 2013)
Forbes Most Powerful Women: #9 (2014), #4 (2017), #5 (2011)
Fortune's 50 Most Powerful Women in Business (top 10, 2014–2018)
Forbes America's Self-Made Women: #15 (2021)
Business Week "25 Most Influential People on the Web"

Net worth

As of July 2025, Sandberg's net worth is estimated at $2.4 billion according to Forbes, representing an increase of $185.3 million from 2024. Her wealth comes primarily from Meta stock sales and holdings. Between Facebook's May 2012 IPO and her June 2022 departure as COO, she sold between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion worth of Facebook stock. She has maintained billionaire status for several years.

References

External links