Sheryl Sandberg

Sheryl Sandberg (born August 28, 1969) is an American business executive, author, and philanthropist who served as chief operating officer of Meta Platforms from 2008 to 2022. A Harvard University graduate with degrees in economics and an MBA, she began her career as an economist at the World Bank and later as chief of staff to U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers before joining Google as vice president of global online sales and operations. At Meta, Sandberg oversaw business operations and scaled its advertising revenue model, which grew the company from a startup valued in the billions to a trillion-dollar enterprise amid rapid user expansion. She authored the 2013 bestseller Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead , which encouraged women to seek leadership roles and inspired the creation of Lean In Circles for professional networking, though its emphasis on personal ambition over systemic barriers drew mixed empirical assessments of long-term workplace gender equity impacts. Sandberg's tenure at Meta was marked by significant achievements in monetization alongside controversies, including the platform's involvement in data privacy breaches like Cambridge Analytica and aggressive responses to reputational challenges through lobbying and content policies. She stepped down as COO in 2022 and left the board in 2024, shifting focus to philanthropy via LeanIn.Org and other initiatives.

Sheryl Sandberg was born on August 28, 1969, in Washington, D.C. , to Joel and Adele Sandberg. Her father, Joel, worked as an ophthalmologist, while her mother, Adele (née Einhorn), served as a college professor of French.

As the eldest of three children, Sandberg grew up alongside her younger brother, David , and sister, Michelle. The family, which was Jewish, relocated to North Miami Beach, Florida , when she was two years old. Her parents were active in Jewish causes, including advocacy for Soviet Jewry, with involvement in rallies and community efforts dating back to the early 1970s.

Sandberg's maternal lineage included Eastern European Jewish immigrants; her great-great-grandmother had fled Lithuania amid historical pogroms. During her childhood in Florida , she attended North Miami Beach Senior High School , where she demonstrated academic excellence, later graduating in 1987. She has cited her mother and grandmother as early influences for balancing professional ambitions with family responsibilities.

Sandberg majored in economics at Harvard College, graduating in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts degree summa cum laude and membership in Phi Beta Kappa; she ranked as the top student in her economics class. Her senior honors thesis, titled "How Economic Inequality Contributes to Spousal Abuse," examined the causal links between income disparities and domestic violence rates, drawing on econometric analysis to argue that economic pressures exacerbate abusive behaviors in households. Advised by economist Lawrence Summers, who later became her professional mentor, the thesis reflected her early application of economic modeling to social policy challenges, including data from U.S. surveys showing higher abuse incidence in lower-income brackets.

During her undergraduate years, Sandberg co-founded the group Women in Economics and Government, aimed at promoting female participation in policy-oriented economic studies, which underscored her interest in gender dynamics within intellectual and professional spheres. Following her bachelor's, she served as a research assistant to Summers at the World Bank, analyzing development economics and fiscal policy impacts on inequality, which honed her quantitative skills and exposure to global economic data.

Sandberg returned to Harvard for an MBA at Harvard Business School , completing the program in 1995 with highest distinction, emphasizing case-based learning in corporate strategy and operations.