Over the course of a decade, Mark and Sheryl met every week.

There was a clear meaning to the ritual. It was meant to show that the chief executives of the company were in close proximity.

Ms. Sandberg said on Wednesday that she would step down from Meta this fall, and that INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals

The importance of the chief operating officer role has waned at Meta, which was formerly known as Facebook. Four executives who have the same responsibilities and who answer to and run major decisions by Mr. Zuckerberg are part of his team.

Three people close to Mr. Facebook said that he wanted to consolidate his control over the company. With a majority of the company's voting shares, Mr. Zuckerberg has always been the undisputed boss, but he shared power with Ms. With more than 18 years of experience under his belt, he wants to be known as the sole leader of Meta.

ImageMark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, and Ms. Sandberg in Sun Valley, Idaho, in July.
Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, and Ms. Sandberg in Sun Valley, Idaho, in July.Credit...Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, and Ms. Sandberg in Sun Valley, Idaho, in July.

The four top lieutenants are the chief technology officer, the president of global affairs, the chief product officer, and the head of growth.

The four men are responsible for a lot of things. The public face of Meta is Mr. Clegg, while the ambassador is Mr. Bosworth. Meta has two people in charge of the family of apps: Mr. Cox and Mr. Olivan.

When she was in charge of all of the business operations, she had more power than any of them.

The power shift was mentioned in a post by Mr. He said that it makes sense for the product and business groups to be more closely integrated, rather than having all the business and operations functions organized separately from our products.

ImageNick Clegg
Nick CleggCredit...Meta
Nick Clegg

R.A. Farrokhnia said the shift in management structure made sense as Meta invested in the metaverse and moved away from the social networking model that Ms.

A more traditional governance structure is required in order to move in this direction. The sum of the parts becomes larger when multiple people come together.

The spokesman for Meta wouldn't give interviews with executives.

Employees referred to them as the "Mark side" and the "Sandberg side" for years. The business, policy and legal teams were run by Ms.

ImageJavier Olivan
Javier OlivanCredit...Meta
Javier Olivan

In 2020 there were scandals involving privacy, misinformation and other toxic content on the platform. Mr. Facebook told his teams that he wanted to devote more time and attention to innovative products that the company was creating.

Since then, Mr. Facebook has more control over public messaging and policy decisions. He promoted executives who were loyal to his vision, as well as bringing in hires with public policy expertise.

He promoted three executives who have been with the company for a long time. They were one of the first people to join Facebook.

ImageAndrew Bosworth
Andrew BosworthCredit...Meta
Andrew Bosworth

He rose through the ranks after joining Facebook as head of international growth. He oversaw Facebook's rapid expansion and was involved with maintaining the company's technical infrastructure

Mr. Bosworth is a cheerleader for Mr. Facebook. He was promoted to the position of chief technology officer. He is in charge of the virtual and augmented reality labs, which make products like the Quest virtual reality headsets. The two of them are close friends who vacation together.

The company's chief product officer, Mr. Cox, has been described by employees as the heart of the company. He left Facebook in March but came back in June.

Two senior Meta employees who have worked with Mr. Cox said that during his absence some of his teams were moved to report directly to Mr. Zuckerberg. They said he didn't assume the kind of expansive role he used to have.

ImageChristopher Cox
Christopher CoxCredit...Meta
Christopher Cox

After a long career in British politics, Mr. Clegg joined the company. He was hired by Ms. Sandberg to handle Facebook's political issues around the world. He has become a sort of defacto head of state for the company, dealing with world governments and advocating for Meta at a regulatory level. He became president of global affairs in February.

Insiders at Meta have speculated over who the next leader of the social network would be. The list has been shortened and there is no clear answer to the question.

A director of public policy at Meta who left the company last year said that over the years, few people other than Sheryl have emerged as a successor to Mark. It makes sense for Mark to be able to choose successors.

She said that focusing on one person can be risky.