Sheryl Sandberg is a 46-year-old billionaire from Atherton California. The source of wealth is largely from working at Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), and Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) where she now holds the position as Chief Operations Officer (CEO). On the Forbes money list, Sheryl Sandberg rates at #16 in the category of America’s Self-Made Women, and she rates at #8 for Power Women, and at #1741 for the top ranking billionaires of 2015. In the United States, Sheryl Sandberg is ranked at #513 on the Forbes Billionaire money lists for 2015. Sandberg holds a BA in science from Harvard University and she holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. She’s also the acclaimed author of the bestselling book, ‘Lean In’. The original release of the book sold over 2.25 million copies globally, and a new edition of the book titled ‘Lean in for Graduates’ was released in April 2015.
The Linchpin of Facebook’s Success
Sheryl Sandberg’s meteoric rise to the upper echelons of Facebook’s executive elite was not without its challenges. Everybody knows Mark Zuckerberg’s name, but her star power is limited to the tech and corporate world who are well familiar with her. Today, Sandberg sits comfortably in #2 position at Facebook – one of the most successful technology giants in the world. The stock is currently trading at $92.79 per share with a market capitalisation of $261.38 billion. Such is the appeal of Facebook that analysts have given it a 1-year target estimate of $111.60 per share. She teamed up with Facebook in 2008, but not before she had established herself as a competent professional as an executive at Google. By 2012, Sandberg became the first female on Facebook’s board, and she put her extensive experience to good use when she scaled the social network globally. Sandberg has a resume that is the envy of many of her peers. She served as an economist at the World Bank and she was the chief-of-staff to former Treasury Secretary, Larry Summers. Unfortunately, Sandberg’s successes have not been without terrible heartache – her husband Dave Goldberg unexpectedly passed away in May 2015.
A Staunch Advocate of Women in Leadership Positions
Among her many accolades, being an inspirational force to women is one of Sandberg’s proudest achievements. The critically acclaimed book has led to the creation of over 22,000 ‘Lean In Circles’ of women all over the country who are collaborating to assess how they can better achieve their strategic objectives in the workplace, make an impact in leadership and contribute to society. The bestselling book was published in 2013 and it was co-authored by Sheryl Sandberg and Nell Scovell. Among others, the book targets the key factors that dissuade woman from pursuing the highest leadership positions in industries across the board. Sandberg’s public awareness campaigns have resonated with women everywhere, and she has even partnered up with the WNBA and the NBA, where the goal is to push for gender equality at every level.
The message of Sandberg’s Women in Leadership theme resonates far and wide. She is of the opinion that corporate America’s potential is blunted when women are unable to advance their careers. This is true because women comprise 50% of the workforce, and keeping their career prospects limited is detrimental to the economy. Sandberg extrapolated with a rather bizarre analogy stating that an astronaut could fly past Mars, to Pluto and return back to Earth a total of 10 times before women take up half of the corporate sector’s offices in the country. At the corporate level there is still a tremendous disparity between women and men in corporate positions. Sandberg is more focused on an individual level of change rather than policy changes, and she’s encouraging women to empower themselves by pushing for leadership roles and driving themselves towards greater success in the workplace. A cultural change is what is needed according to Sandberg and her co-author.
Immense Wealth with Facebook Shares
In 2014, Sheryl Sandberg owned 12.3 million shares of Facebook. At today’s prices those shares would be worth $1.141 billion, give or take. Plus, she has also gained approximately $300 million by having sold Facebook shares since it went public in May of 2012. Life is not without its ironies, and just deserts. Sandberg was brought in to turn things around for Facebook, and in so doing she generated massive wealth for herself too. In 2012 there were just 104 female billionaires, by 2013 that number jumped to 138, and it keeps on growing. Sandberg’s meteoric rise to fame and fortune, hard-earned though it may be – has inspired countless women to push the boundaries of corporate leadership positions ever further. For many years the woman who topped the list of richest billionaires in the world was L’Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt who is worth an estimated $40.9 billion according to Forbes magazine. Although she no longer manages own affairs due to Alzheimer’s and dementia, she is the ranking female billionaire.
What makes Sandberg’s success story all the more important is that she is a self-made success, unlike so many of the other billionaires who inherited their wealth. In that category, she stands among an elite group of 24 female billionaires (as of 2013). And more importantly, she achieved this incredible milestone at the tender young age of 44. Prior to joining Facebook, she owned 38 million restricted stock units at Google, as its VP. According to Forbes, Sandberg has gifted 829,000 shares away and sold approximately 9,000,000 shares since Facebook’s May IPO in 2012. The cash value that she generated from the sale of those shares was a cool $250 million. Sandberg also serves as a board member of the Walt Disney Co., where she has a small vested interest. Sandberg was instrumental in positioning Facebook for strong global growth vis-a-vis its increasing mobile revenues. It is through Sandberg’s expertise in the mobile marketing arena that Facebook has increased user engagement and converted sales to a high degree. In her book, Sandberg alludes to rejecting an offer from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, and going back to him with a counter proposal which he accepted. The rest they say is history!
