Sheryl Sandberg is leaving, and there will be no more like her.

This is the new starting point for Meta, the parent company of the social network Facebook.

Co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has used the news of Sandberg's resignation to announce a realignment of senior leadership that will consolidate even more power into his hands than before.

Roland Lindner

Business correspondent in New York.

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Although Sandberg is to be replaced as "Chief Operating Officer" (COO), her successor Javier Olivan is to be given a smaller range of tasks than her and to concentrate on the actual day-to-day business.

In addition, more managers who previously reported to Sandberg will now report directly to Zuckerberg.

This has recently been the case for Nick Clegg, who is responsible for communications, policy and regulatory affairs, and chief counsel Jennifer Newstead.

In the future, HR manager Lori Goler will also report to Zuckerberg himself.

Change in power structure

The chief executive said Sandberg had "defined her role as chief operations officer in her own unique way," but now it's time to "more closely integrate" the various departments at the company, meaning put them under his direct oversight.

Sandberg's farewell is therefore a turning point in two respects: one of the most prominent managers in the technology industry is leaving the Internet giant, and her previous position is also becoming less important.

Sandberg has been with the company for 14 years and plans to resign this fall.

She announced her resignation in a lengthy Facebook post without giving any specific reason.

"It's time for me to write the next chapter in my life," she said vaguely.

She mentioned she wants to spend more time on her foundation and on charitable activities in general, and also mentioned that she is getting married this summer.

Possibly to counter speculation about any disagreements, the 52-year-old manager said she still believes in the mission of the Internet company and will remain associated with it 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.

Sometimes it was about data protection breaches, sometimes about the spread of false information, sometimes about a lack of determination in the fight against hate speech and other toxic content.

Sandberg now wrote that the social media debate has changed dramatically and "to say it hasn't always been easy would be an understatement."

Zuckerberg published a separate entry in which he praised his longtime colleague effusively, but on the other hand distanced himself a bit from the Sandberg era by announcing a new distribution of roles.

He called Sandberg a "superstar" and "a good friend and partner."

He said it's unusual for a business partnership to last so long.

Known as a successful woman

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

Even if she was number two in the company, she could rival her boss in terms of prominence.

She has often represented Meta externally, whether on panel discussions or at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

She was a more polished representative than Zuckerberg.

She regularly appeared in lists of the most powerful women in business.

She's also made a name for herself outside of her regular work, most notably with the careers advisor Lean In, published nine years ago, in which she urged women to take more charge of their careers.

In 2017, she released another book inspired by her husband's death, in which she wrote about dealing with traumatic events.