Sheryl Sandberg on leaving Meta

One of the most talked about questions among current and former employees over the past few years has been When, not if, Sheryl Sandberg leaves Meta. The news that she will soon leave her position as the social media giant's number-two executive sent shock waves throughout the company and the rest of Silicon Valley.

In her own words, there are two big factors in the decision to leave, the fact that Meta's executive team has been built up to make way for her departure, and the fact that she is the leader of theLean movement.

I edited my full conversation with Sandberg about her stepping down as COO of Meta.

The timing of this is different than any other point.

When I took this job, I interviewed with Mark for a long time and then went to dinner with Mark and his wife, and Dave, to discuss how I should only take the job if I could do it for five years. Fourteen years ago. I thought my job would last five years.

There is no perfect time. It has been an honor and a privilege, but it isn't a job that leaves much time to do other things. I wanted to make more room in my life for philanthropy. It is a very important moment for women, and I want to be able to do more on that right now. I feel very good about the team we have built. It was very good. Mark and I have built a strong team.

Is it just getting the team to a place where it felt good to be able to make this move?

I care so much about the company that it's a big part of it.

You're going to stay on the board, so you're going to keep working there. Are you planning on staying for many years?

I haven't gotten that far, but I'm staying on the board.

The business has always had challenges, but I think it is the most complex it has ever been in terms of regulation, Apple tracking changes, and all these things happening at the same time. There is a huge transition underway with how ads work and everything you built, how do you feel about leaving?

There is never a moment when a chapter ends and a new one begins in our business. This isn't the beginning of the ads or the end of the metaverse business. It is a continuum. We have had challenges all along the way. We are going to have challenges going forward. The task is to build the current business, which people are working on and doing, and also build the future. I have a lot of confidence in both of them.

3 billion people use a family of apps that I mentioned on the earnings call. Businesses use that to grow their business and I think that will continue. Boz is the leader of the metaverse. Boz and I were partners in the ads business for a long time. I think he will do a great job building the next business for the company.

What do you think about the business bet there? It is very long term. How have you thought about that?

The challenge and opportunity are the same. The company has to build the next business while it is still running its current one. I look back over the course of the last 14 years and see that we have done that before, right? We went public with no ads. No ads! There were no ads on mobile. The mobile transition happened very quickly. We only had ads on the desktop, so we had to run the business on the phone. I think this is going to be even bigger than that, but this team knows how to make transitions like that.

Looking back over 14 years, do you have a regret?

We have learned a lot and wish we had known it earlier. We have a responsibility to protect people's privacy and build safety into the products. I think we made those investments. We wish we had done those earlier. The president of global affairs wrote a very good paper for the metaverse, and we are building that in now. I think that is very important.