Sheryl Sandberg

Sheryl Kara Sandberg was born on August 28, 1969, in Washington, D.C. She studied economics at Harvard University, completing her bachelor's degree in 1991 as the top student in the field, with a thesis advised by economist Lawrence Summers. When Summers joined the World Bank as chief economist, Sandberg worked with him there from 1991 to 1993 on projects aiding developing countries. She later earned an MBA from Harvard in 1995. From 1995 to 1996, Sandberg worked at McKinsey & Company as a management consultant. In 1996, she became chief of staff to Summers when he served as U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, continuing in that role until 2001 when he was Treasury Secretary. In 2008, she joined Facebook as COO at the invitation of Mark Zuckerberg, overseeing business operations and advertising, which drove the company's profitability amid rapid growth. Sandberg's tenure at Facebook lasted until May 2022, when she stepped down as COO but remained on the board until announcing her departure in January 2024. Her leadership faced controversy over the platform's role in spreading misinformation. Personally, she was married to Dave Goldberg, who passed away in 2015; she began dating Tom Bernthal in 2019, got engaged in 2020, and they married. In 2013, she published Lean In, co-written with Nell Scovell, and founded the nonprofit LeanIn.org to foster women's leadership through resources and programming.