Sheryl Sandberg officially steps down as COO of Meta

It’s the end of an era at the company formerly known as Facebook. Sheryl Sandberg has officially stepped down as Chief Operating Officer on August 1st, as revealed by a SEC filing noticed by TechCrunch. In the filing, Meta said Javier Olivan is now the company’s COO and that Sandberg will only remain an employe until September 30th. After that and going forward, Sandberg will serve as a member of Meta’s Board and will receive compensation as a non-employee director. 

Sandberg first announced that she was leaving her role as COO of Meta after 14 years in early June. Mark Zuckerberg revealed at the time that Olivan will take on the COO role, but that his responsibilities will be different from Sandberg’s. Olivan will have a “more traditional COO role where [he] will be focused internally and operationally, building on his strong track record of making our execution more efficient and rigorous,” the company CEO said. 

As The Wall Street Journal noted in a piece about Sandberg back in June, she joined Facebook in 2008 and led the business side of the company, allowing Zuckerberg to focus on engineering work. In more recent years, she became the face of the social network when it comes to leading public response to controversies, such as the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Before Sandberg announced her departure, The Journal reported that the Meta COO used company resources to help kill negative reporting about Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, who she was dating at the time. In mid-June, the publication also reported that Meta’s lawyers are investigating Sandberg’s use of the company’s resources and employees for her foundation and to promote her book Option B. 

Sandberg is leaving the company just as it has started preparing for “serious times.” In a meeting with employees, Zuckerberg revealed that Meta is experiencing “one of the worst downturns [it has seen] in recent history.” As a result, Meta had to slash its target number for new engineers this year. In addition, company leadership reportedly told managers to identify poor performers and to “move to exit” them if they can’t get back on track. 

VW chairman Herbert Diess will leave the company in August

Volkswagen is shaking up its leadership. The automaker has announced that group chairman Herbert Diess will leave at the end of August. Porsche chairman Oliver Blume will take over the role (while preserving his existing position) as of September 1st. The company didn’t explain Diess’ exit, but said the move was the result of a “mutual agreement.”

Diess has a somewhat mixed track record. He replaced former chief Martin Winterkorn as the Dieselgate emissions cheating scandal unfolded in 2015, and was meant to help VW move past a dark chapter in its history. In 2019, though, German prosecutors charged Diess with stock manipulation for allegedly delaying reports on the cheating to minimize the impact on company shares. Diess’ attorney contended that the executive joined VW too late to understand the ramifications of the scandal, but the allegations still tarnished the leader’s reputation.

At the same time, there’s little doubt that Diess oversaw an important moment in VW’s history. He helped the company start its transition to EVs and self-driving cars. He also prepared for declining car ownership by fostering mobility services. Much of VW’s business still depends on conventional combustion engine vehicles, but it now expects EVs to represent half of its sales by 2030. If the Dieselgate-era VW was clinging to the past, Diess’ company was bracing itself for the future.

Don’t expect a radical change under Blume. The new chairman will “press ahead” with the transformation that largely began under Diess, according to VW. Blume may serve as a custodian in that regard, but that won’t necessarily be a problem if the company continues to expand and improve its EV lineup.