Billionaire Sheryl Sandberg sold $1.7 billion worth of Facebook stock over the last decade
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Sheryl Sandberg leaves Meta as one of the highest-profile and most successful women in tech — and after more than $1.7 billion in stock sales.
Sandberg announced Wednesday that she is stepping down from her role as chief operating officer after 14 years at Meta, formerly known as Facebook.
Sandberg will remain on the social media company’s board. Her wealth totals an estimated $1.6 billion, according to Forbes, making her the second-wealthiest woman in tech after Meg Whitman.
Whitman previously held the top job at Hewlett Packard Enterprise and is worth an estimated $3.2 billion, according to Forbes.
Sandberg is also one of the rare non-CEOs and non-founders to become a billionaire.
While many corporate executives tend to hold on to the bulk of their shares as a show of confidence in their companies, Sandberg has been an aggressive and consistent seller of Facebook (now Meta) stock.
Over the past decade, Sandberg has sold over 75 percent of her after-tax shares through regularly scheduled share sale programs, according to research firms that track the sales.
In total, she sold over 22 million shares for more than $1.7 billion, according to analytics firm VerityData.
Depending on the treatment of options and restricted stock sales, the total could actually be higher, according to another analytics firm, Smart Insider, which calculates her stock sales at closer to $1.9 billion.
A spokesperson for Sandberg said she acquired 48 million restricted stock units, options and shares during her time at the company.
About 20 million were sold for taxes, and she sold 22 million of the remaining 28 million through a 10b5-1 pre-schedule selling program.
Sandberg cashed out shares at a wide range of prices as Facebook shares soared.
Sandberg’s average stock sale price over the past decade was $79.10 per share, according to VerityData, with her most recent sale in October 2019.
This report’s information was first seen on CNBC; to read more, click this link.
