Facebook owner Meta’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, whose close partnership with Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg powered the growth of the world’s biggest social network, has announced to leave the company after 14 years. She will be succeeded by Javier Olivan, who was working as a Chief Growth Officer in the company.
Meta veteran Javier Olivan is taking over as the company’s chief operating officer after playing a crucial but largely behind-the-scenes role stoking the social media company’s explosive growth for 15 years. The Spaniard will replace Sheryl Sandberg, who announced on Wednesday she was stepping down from Meta. The move comes as Meta struggles with slowing growth and rising costs. It is transforming from a social media company to one focused on building the metaverse, a collection of virtual worlds that could be a decade away. Olivan, who grew up in the Pyrenees region of northern Spain, holds degrees in electrical and industrial engineering from the University of Navarra and a master’s in business administration from Stanford University. Before joining Facebook in late 2007 as head of international growth, Olivan, 44, worked at Japan’s NTT and Siemens.
