Sheryl Sandberg
Born 1969 · Age 56
American technology executive, philanthropist and author; longtime COO of Meta (Facebook) (2008–2022); founder of LeanIn.Org; author of Lean In and Option B.
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in Washington, D.C.
Sheryl Kara Sandberg born to Adele and Joel Sandberg into a Jewish family.
Family moved to North Miami Beach, Florida
Sandberg's family relocated when she was two years old.
Taught aerobics while in high school
Worked as an aerobics instructor during the 1980s while a high-school student.
Graduated high school (North Miami Beach HS)
Graduated ranked 9th in class; served as sophomore class president; member National Honor Society.
Enrolled at Harvard College
Began undergraduate studies in economics at Harvard University.
Graduated Harvard College summa cum laude (AB in Economics)
Awarded John H. Williams Prize as top graduating economics student; co-founded Women in Economics and Government; thesis advised by Lawrence Summers.
Joined World Bank as research assistant to Lawrence Summers
Worked ~1–2 years on health projects in India including leprosy, AIDS, and blindness.
Graduated Harvard Business School (MBA, highest distinction)
Earned MBA in 1995, graduating with highest distinction; earned a fellowship in first year.
Joined McKinsey & Company as management consultant
Worked at McKinsey approximately one year (1995–1996).
Became chief of staff to Lawrence Summers at US Treasury
Served as Summers' chief of staff when he was Deputy Secretary and then Secretary of the Treasury; worked on debt forgiveness and development issues.
Continued as chief of staff during Summers' tenure as Treasury Secretary
Remained Summers' chief of staff while he served as Secretary (1999–2001).
Grew Google ad and sales team from ~4 to ~4,000
Rapid expansion of sales organization and ad products (AdWords/AdSense) under Sandberg's leadership.
Joined Google as general manager / VP of Global Online Sales & Operations
Oversaw online sales, advertising products, Google Book Search and consumer product sales; later led Google.org philanthropic arm.
Put in charge of Google.org
Oversaw Google’s for-profit philanthropy arm focusing on climate, public health, and poverty.
Married Dave Goldberg
Married Dave Goldberg, then a Yahoo! executive who later became CEO of SurveyMonkey.
Birth of first child (son)
Sandberg and Dave Goldberg welcomed their son (year provided by EBSCO/Biography sources).
Met Mark Zuckerberg at a Christmas party
Introduced to Zuckerberg at Dan Rosensweig's party; initial discussions that led to her recruitment to Facebook.
Appeared on Fortune 'Most Powerful Women' list (No. 29)
In 2007 she was ranked No. 29 on Fortune's 50 Most Powerful Women list and was the youngest woman on the list.
Helped pivot Facebook to ad-based monetization
Led development of ad strategy that transformed Facebook from product-first to profitable advertising business.
Hired as Chief Operating Officer of Facebook (COO)
Announced in March 2008 that Sandberg would leave Google to become Facebook's COO; tasked with making the company profitable.
Named to The Walt Disney Company board
Joined Disney's board of directors (reported 2009).
TED Talk: 'Why we have too few women leaders'
Delivered TED Talk which later helped catalyze Lean In book and movement.
Commencement speaker at Barnard College
Gave Barnard College commencement address (May 2011).
Facebook becomes publicly traded; Sandberg’s equity makes her a billionaire
Facebook IPO (company went public in 2012) and Sandberg's equity stake made her a billionaire.
Named to Time 100
Included in Time magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world (2012).
Became first woman elected to Facebook's board of directors
Joined Facebook/Meta's board (became the eighth member) in 2012.
Lean In movement launched (LeanIn.org founded)
Concurrent with Lean In book release, LeanIn.org launched as an education and community-building organization for women in business.
Lean In shortlisted for Financial Times / Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year
Lean In shortlisted in 2013 for the FT/Goldman award.
Lean In Circles reach global scale (>50,000 groups)
Lean In inspired groups called Lean In Circles; Investopedia/EBSCO sources cite more than 50,000 such groups (milestone for organization).
Published 'Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead'
Released Lean In (Knopf) and launched LeanIn.org; book sold over one million copies by fall 2013.
Co-launched 'Ban Bossy' campaign
Lean In and partners launched Ban Bossy campaign with celebrity spokespeople including Beyoncé and Jennifer Garner.
Sold more than half of Facebook shares since IPO
Reported in April 2014 that she had sold over half her Facebook shares; at IPO she held ~41M shares and afterwards ~17.2M remained (~0.5% stake ~US$1B at that time).
Death of husband Dave Goldberg
Dave Goldberg died unexpectedly on May 1, 2015 while vacationing in Mexico; initially reported as head trauma; autopsy later suggested arrhythmia.
Signed an open letter for the ONE Campaign (women-focused development priorities)
In 2015–2016 signed a joint open letter urging leaders to focus on women in development funding ahead of UN summit.
Dated Bobby Kotick (2016–2019); later related PR controversy
Reported relationship with Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick; later reporting alleged coordinated campaign to prevent Daily Mail story.
UC Berkeley Commencement Address (first public mention of husband's death)
Delivered UC Berkeley commencement speech in 2016 and publicly discussed grief and resilience.
Renamed foundation and endowed it with Facebook stock
In November 2016 she renamed Lean In Foundation to the Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Foundation and transferred roughly $100,000,000 in Facebook stock to fund the foundation and other philanthropic work.
Commencement address at Virginia Tech
Delivered Virginia Tech Class of 2017 commencement address.
Published 'Option B' with Adam Grant
Released Option B (April 2017), focused on grief and resilience; 2.75 million copies sold since publication (text states total sold).
Subject of multiple high-profile profiles and books about Facebook leadership
Featured in numerous profiles (New Yorker, NYT, etc.) documenting her role as 'adult in the room' and controversies surrounding Facebook.
Testified before Congress about Russian interference & Cambridge Analytica
Testified in 2018 regarding Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election and Cambridge Analytica data scandal; NYT and WSJ reporting criticized Facebook PR and Sandberg's role.
Wall Street Journal reported Zuckerberg blamed Sandberg after Cambridge Analytica revelations
WSJ reported a meeting where Zuckerberg blamed Sandberg for the scandal outcome; reported to have rattled her.
Allegations and internal controversies reported (Definers/PR activity)
Press reported Sandberg's role in hiring Definers and PR tactics targeting critics; reputation affected though she remained COO.
Commencement address at MIT
Delivered MIT commencement address on June 8, 2018.
NYTimes reported she asked staff to research George Soros (PR controversy)
NYT reported she asked communications staff to research George Soros after his criticism of tech companies.
Engaged to Tom Bernthal
Announced engagement to Tom Bernthal (Kelton Global CEO) on February 3, 2020 via Facebook post.
Launched Sandberg Bernthal Venture Partners
In 2021 Sandberg and her husband Tom Bernthal launched Sandberg Bernthal Venture Partners to invest their capital in startups.
Fortune/Forbes rankings (Forbes list: 36th 'most powerful women')
Ranked No. 36 on Forbes' 2021 list of 100 most powerful women
Listed among world's most powerful women; Forbes reported net worth $1.7B on 2021 billionaires list (text references).
Announced stepping down as Meta COO
Announced June 1, 2022 that she would leave Meta as COO in the fall of 2022 but remain on the board; cited desire to write next chapter of her life.
Officially stepped down as Meta COO
Filed showing officially stepped down as COO on August 1, 2022 (TechCrunch/filings reported).
Married Tom Bernthal
Married former NBC News producer Tom Bernthal in August 2022; blended household with 5 children total.
Investment: Sandberg Bernthal invested in Cercle (AI healthcare)
In November 2023 her investment company invested in Cercle, an AI healthcare business.
Announced would not stand for re-election to Meta board
In January 2024 announced she would not stand for re-election to Meta's board in May 2024.
Released documentary 'Screams Before Silence' on YouTube
In April 2024 Sandberg fronted the documentary about alleged sexual violence by Hamas in the October 7, 2023 attack; she described it as the most important work of her life.
Invested in Pigment SAS (French software) as part of $145M round
In April 2024 she invested in Pigment SAS as part of a $145 million financing round.
Donated $5 million to Marshall University ('Marshall For All')
In October 2024 Sandberg donated $5M through her foundation to Marshall University's 'Marshall For All' program.
Sanctioned by Delaware Chancery Court for deleting emails
In January 2025 Chancellor J. Travis Laster imposed sanctions for deleting emails from personal account that were subject to a litigation hold in the Cambridge Analytica shareholder lawsuit.
Forbes net worth estimate updated to $2.4 billion
As of July 2025 Forbes estimated Sandberg's net worth at $2.4 billion (text cites updated figure).
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