Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg stepping down 14 years after joining Facebook

Meta Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg is stepping down from her position after joining Facebook in 2008 as second-in-command to the social media company's founder, Mark Zuckerberg.

She plans on leaving Meta this Fall but will still serve on its board of directors, Sandberg wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

The news comes after The Wall Street Journal reported in April that Sandberg had pressured the Daily Mail multiple times to potentially kill stories about her then-boyfriend. 

Sandberg also mentioned the difficulties of being a working mother in her announcement. 

"When I joined Facebook, I had a two-year-old son and a six-month-old daughter. I did not know if this was the right time for a new and demanding role. The messages were everywhere that women – and I – could not be both a leader and a good mother, but I wanted to give it a try," she wrote. "Once I started, I realized that to see my children before they went to sleep, I had to leave the office at 5:30 p.m., which was when work was just getting going for many of my new colleagues."

She said her post-Meta plans include focusing on her philanthropic work and her family. 

Zuckerberg reflected in a post about Sheryl's work at the company, which she joined when he was 23 years old.

"I'm sad that the day is coming when I won't get to work as closely with Sheryl. But more than anything, I'm grateful for everything she has done to build Meta. She has done so much for me, for our community, and for the world -- and we're all better off for it," he wrote on Facebook.