Sheryl Sandberg, the former Chief Operating Officer of Meta (NASDAQ:META), has announced her departure from the company’s board of directors after a 12-year tenure.

“With a heart filled with gratitude and a mind brimming with memories, I have informed the Meta (NASDAQ:META) board that I will not seek reelection this May,” she expressed in a Facebook post. “In the future, I will continue to support the company in an advisory capacity.”

Zuckerberg responded to her post, stating, “Your dedication and guidance have been essential in propelling our success, and I am thankful for your steadfast commitment to me and Meta over the years.”

Sandberg, previously a vice president of online sales and operations at Google, assumed the role of Chief Operating Officer at Facebook in 2008 and was the first woman to join its board.

Working alongside Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Sandberg played a pivotal role in transforming Facebook into a highly lucrative business, culminating in the company’s market capitalization surpassing $1 trillion in 2021.

In 2022, Sandberg’s departure from Meta followed the company becoming embroiled in controversies regarding data privacy and its involvement in the propagation of disinformation during the 2016 U.S. elections and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reportedly, Zuckerberg attributed blame to Sandberg for the Cambridge Analytica scandal, wherein the personal data of Facebook users was harvested without consent, mainly for political advertising purposes.

Javier Olivan, who had been serving as Meta’s Chief Growth Officer, was subsequently appointed as the company’s new Chief Operating Officer.