Facebook Gets Serious, Hires Google Exec as COO
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is following in the footsteps of Bill Gates by keeping his job as CEO while hiring a proven industry professional as his COO. Sheryl Sandberg, formerly vice president for global online sales and operations at Google, has agreed to join up with Zuckerberg in a move that suggests Facebook is serious about monetizing their social network, ASAP. “A big theme of this hire is that there are parts of our operations that, to use a pretty trite phrase, need to be taken to the next level,” said Zuckerberg.
Sandberg has been very successful in developing AdWords and AdSense, Google’s two immensely profitable ad programs. Sandberg will help Facebook expand globally and develop the ad network that they need to become more profitable.
Sandberg also served as chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Larry Summers in the Clinton administration. Knowledge of Federal laws and Washington politics will certainly come in handy should Facebook encounter difficulties regarding privacy. She is still politically active and has made no secret of her support of Hillary Clinton.
Thanks to Brad Stone and Miguel Helft of the New York Times
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