Facebook named Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg to the board of the giant social network, which has been criticized for not
having any female directors before now.
Sandberg also will continue as CEO Mark Zuckerberg's second in command,
running virtually all business operations at Facebook, which she has done
since she joined the fast-growing startup in 2008. Previously she was a top
advertising executive at Google (GOOG) and before that served as chief of
staff for U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers.
The 42-year-old Sandberg is widely viewed as a strong advocate for women
in business and the tech industry. She has served on boards at Disney and
other companies; and the fact she was not on Facebook's board has drawn public
criticism from several advocacy groups.
"It's great news. It's about time," said Susan Stautberg, co-founder of
Women Corporate Directors, an international organization that promotes female
membership on corporate boards. Citing reports that a majority of Facebook's
users are women, Stautberg said that as a director, Sandberg will
contribute "brains, savvy and a good sense of the market."
Stautberg's group was one of several that criticized Menlo Park-based
Facebook in recent months for not naming Sandberg or any other woman to its
board as the company prepared for its first public stock offering.
Facebook, which completed its IPO last month, has grown rapidly since
Zuckerberg launched the service in his Harvard dorm room eight years ago. In a
new book, excerpted last week in The Wall Street Journal, former employee
Katherine Losse described finding a frathouse atmosphere when she joined the
company in 2005.
Sandberg worked to change that atmosphere, according to Losse, who wrote
that soon after Losse complained to Sandberg about a senior manager who was
known for propositioning women employees, Sandberg arranged to have the man
quietly demoted.
In a statement released by the company, Zuckerberg said of Sandberg,
"Sheryl has been my partner in running Facebook and has been central to our
growth and success over the years. Her understanding of our mission and
long-term opportunity, and her experience both at Facebook and on public
company boards makes her a natural fit for our company."
Facebook's board:
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and co-founder
Marc Andreessen, partner in Andreessen Horowitz venture capital firm
Erskine Bowles, former White House chief of staff under President Clinton
James Breyer, partner at Accel Partners venture capital firm
Donald Graham, CEO of The Washington Post Co.
Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix
Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer at Facebook
Peter Thiel, managing partner at Founders Fund venture capital firm.
Source: Facebook
