Is Sheryl Sandberg clearing the decks to pursue political ambitions? The tech exec and committed Democrat who once served as Chief of Staff in Clinton’s Treasury department stirs speculation she may be taking aim at Capitol Hill

In announcing her shock departure from Meta after 16 years in Silicon Valley at the tech giant, Sheryl Sandberg didn’t utter the cliché that she was leaving her high-profile role to “spend more time with her family.”

Almost immediately after Sandberg, 54, announced she would leave her role as COO in 2022, the Harvard graduate was linked with a move into the world of politics.

Sandberg has played in DC before. Almost immediately after college, she began working in the Clinton administration as chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.

Summers had become Sandberg’s mentor when she was a student of his at the Ivy League school. During President Barack Obama’s term, Sandberg served on the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.

In 2014, Sandberg stated that she had no intention of running for public office.

‘I have no plans to run for office. “I really enjoy working at Facebook,” she told CNN.

During the Obama administration, Sandberg served on the then-president’s jobs council, here she is with Obama in 2012

Despite being a critic of Trump, particularly his immigration policies, Sandberg met with the ex-president in December 2016, along with Jeff Bezos and Tim Cook.

During her time at Facebook, Sandberg was outspoken in her support for liberal causes, including Hillary Clinton’s ill-fated presidential bid in 2016, supporting Planned Parenthood in the wake of the overturning Roe v Wade and being a champion for women in the workplace .

In 2016, Politics reported that Sandberg was one of the candidates to become Treasury Secretary in Hillary Clinton’s regime.

Also in 2016, there were rumors that she was Michael Bloomberg’s top choice to become his vice president if he were to run for office. When Bloomberg ran for office in 2020, Sandberg was not on his list, a Democratic aide told Business Insider.

“No candidate would even want to stand next to her. The cachet is gone,” the officer said.

That came after Sandberg faced criticism from Democrats and those on the left for apparently spreading misinformation surrounding the 2016 presidential election, the Covid-19 pandemic and the Jan. 6 riot on Facebook.

In 2018, Sandberg was called to testify before Congress about Russian disinformation that was present on Facebook in 2016 and helped hand the presidency to Donald Trump.

A year later, she appeared to discuss data privacy concerns.

Politics noted in 2022 that Sandberg was largely sidelined by Zuckerberg as he took on a more public role when it came to dealing with politicians in the nation’s capital.

In announcing that she will step down as COO in 2022, Sandberg referred to her philanthropic work “which to me is more important than ever, given how crucial this moment is for women.”

Her statement came weeks after the conservative Supreme Court ended women’s abortion rights.

At least one D.C.-based political consultant believes Sandberg’s story would appeal to voters.

‘There is a huge interest in business leaders and she certainly has a story to tell. She probably has some things that voters would like her to explain, but there is a long history of success and innovation at Facebook in her career,” Tammy Haddad shared. Business insider in 2022.

It also doesn’t hurt that Forbes estimates that Sandberg has a personal net worth of about $1.6 billion.

Axios However, when Sandberg stepped down as COO in 2022, she reported that her plan was to focus on philanthropy rather than politics.

Sandberg has chosen not to run to fill Vice President Kamala Harris’ California seat in 2022.

‘She’s too smart to think she can win. “By the time Kamala’s seat opened up, we were a long way from 2015. She can read the political winds well enough to know this wasn’t on the menu,” an aide told Insider.

“With a heart full of gratitude and a mind full of memories, I inform the Meta board that I will not seek re-election in May,” Sandberg wrote in a Facebook post announcing her departure in January 2024.

Sandberg left Google to join Facebook in 2008, four years before the company went public.

Sandberg left Google to join Facebook in 2008, four years before the company went public

She was COO of Facebook for fourteen and a half years and then of Meta and a board member for twelve years.

“Under Mark’s leadership, Javi Olivan, Justin Osofsky, Nicola Mendelsohn and their teams have proven beyond doubt that the Meta business is strong and well positioned for the future, so this feels like the right time to step away,” Sandberg wrote. .

Sandberg said she will continue to serve as an advisor to the company.

Last year, Sandberg announced that she would launch a leadership program for girls through her foundation in response to what she calls persistent gender inequality.

The Girls Leadership Program includes a high school curriculum and adult resources.

Lean In is a project of the Sandberg Goldberg Bernthal Family Foundation, the private foundation that Sandberg founded together with her late husband Dave Goldberg.