It's a bang: Sheryl Sandberg, one of the most prominent managers in the technology industry, is leaving the Facebook parent company Meta after 14 years.

Sandberg wrote in a Facebook post that she would step down as chief operating officer this fall.

In this role, she is now responsible for day-to-day business to a certain extent.

She gave no concrete reasons, nor did she give any future professional steps.

"It's time for me to write the next chapter in my life," she said, noting that she wants to devote more time to her foundation and charitable activities in general.

She also mentioned that she is getting married this summer.

At least she's financially secure.

She is on the Forbes list with a net worth of $1.7 billion.

Roland Lindner

Business correspondent in New York.

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Possibly to counter speculation about any differences of opinion, Sandberg said she still believes in the mission of the Internet company and will remain associated with him with a seat on the board of directors.

Her task was the privilege of her life, originally she only hoped to stay in the post for five years.

She only touched on the fact that the company has been the subject of a number of controversies in recent years.

The debate surrounding social networks has changed dramatically in recent years.

"It would be an understatement to say that it hasn't always been easy." In a statement to the SEC, Meta said Sandberg informed the company of its retirement plans last Saturday.

"The End of an Era"

Meta co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg also did not discuss reasons for Sandberg's departure in a separate post, focusing on words of praise.

He called the 52-year-old manager a "superstar" and a "good friend and partner" whose departure meant the "end of an era".

"It's unusual for a business partnership to last as long as ours." He said he was sad that he would soon be leaving Sandberg.

The successor as Chief Operating Officer is to be Javier Olivan, who as Chief Growth Officer has previously been responsible for the advertising business, among other things.

Zuckerberg said, however, that the COO post should be more narrowly tailored in the future.

Sandberg "defined the role in her own unique way."

For many years, Sandberg and Zuckerberg formed one of the most celebrated executive duos in the corporate world.

She was sort of number two in the company, but rivaled Zuckerberg in prominence.

She was considered the architect of the business model, which focuses on online advertising based on the evaluation of user data.

When she switched from Google to Facebook in 2008, the social network still had less than 100 million members and hardly any income.

Sandberg made a significant contribution to the fact that it became today's internet giant.

Acquisitions of competitors such as Instagram and Whatsapp also contributed to this.

Last year, the company had sales of $118 billion and net income of almost $40 billion.