Meta’s Sheryl Sandberg, who became one of the most recognised figures in global business after helping Facebook transform from a start-up into a multibillion-dollar advertising powerhouse, is stepping down as chief operating officer.

Ms Sandberg (52) will remain on the board of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, according to a post on the social network on Wednesday. Javier Olivan, who has led the company’s growth efforts for years, will take Sandberg’s place as COO when she formally steps down in the autumn.

Ms Sandberg joined Facebook in 2008 and was key to turning it into a social media giant that generated almost $120 billion (€112 billion) in revenue last year. Along the way, she became an influential author – publishing Lean In in 2013 – and served as the highest-profile face of the company next to chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg. She also answered for Facebook’s privacy and policy missteps over the years, attempting to improve its relationship with the public and regulators.

In an interview, Sandberg called her time at Meta the “honour and privilege of a lifetime”, but joked that it was also “not the most manageable job anyone has ever had”.

“It’s a decision I didn’t come to lightly, but it’s been 14 years,” she said on Wednesday. “I want to make more room to do more philanthropically, to do more with my foundation.” – Bloomberg