Sheryl Sandberg’s Exit Has Been Long-Rumored at Facebook

A former Facebook employee recently joked with me that Sheryl Sandberg has been on her way out of the company since at least 2011, but it’s never been the right time for the executive, who is hyper-sensitive about her own reputation, to leave.

There was speculation she would move on after the 2012 initial public offering—except it was a disaster, revealing Facebook’s need to make money in mobile advertising. After she fixed that problem, creating a global marketing powerhouse, the rumors turned positive: Maybe she would become the next chief executive officer of Walt Disney Co. or Microsoft Corp.? Or maybe she’d run for public office? That didn’t happen either. After the 2016 elections, she might have joined Hillary Clinton’s cabinet—but Donald Trump won the presidency instead.