When it comes to the highest echelons of tech titans, women in tech statistics reveal that only 13% of power positions in construction and high-tech manufacturing are held by women. If you look at the list of some of the richest women in the world, you’ll see that some of them inherited their wealth. But what about those who worked their way to where they are now? Let’s praise them for their hardworking ethic. Among the tech standouts is Sheryl Sandberg.
Who is Sheryl Sandberg?
Sheryl was born in a Jewish family and studied at Harvard. Her father was an ophthalmologist, and her mother a French teacher, but Sandberg, herself, studied economics. She finished at the top of her class, and received the John H. Williams Prize.
It didn’t take much time for her talents to be recognized. She worked for the US government and President Clinton’s administration in solving severe economic issues around the world.
Later, she joined Google, but her truly outstanding work came to the surface when she started working for Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook. She took over the role as Chief Operating Officer at the company and immediately started working on making more money for Facebook.
This happened at the beginning of 2008. For those of us who were around for Facebook’s beginnings, we can remember how different the social platform used to be. It was once a social network with almost no commercial advertisements whatsoever.
When Sandberg took on her new role, her influence became obvious. In 2008, Facebook’s revenue was $272 million, but the very next year, the number grew to $777 million. If we look at the charts provided by Statista, we can see that it has grown – and is expected to grow – exponentially.
What does this mean for her privately?
Sandberg managed to turn her knowledge, talent, and experience into huge profits for Facebook. The billions of dollars going into the platform was not left unnoticed by Zuckerberg and the rest of the team. She was highly rewarded, and her net worth at the moment is priced at around $1.7 billion.
But what about her private life?
It’s no secret that the new way of doing business globally is excellent for the young entrepreneurs out there. It’s great for those who dedicate themselves entirely to work and their careers.
However, Sheryl Sandberg is a woman in her fifties. She has two children with her late husband, Dave Goldberg, who passed away in 2015. This information makes it clear how hard it was for her to maintain a healthy family, two kids, and manage to build a billion-dollar career.
Having all this behind her and being the second person in charge of one of the biggest companies in the tech world, speaks volumes on how important it is to have women in tech in general. It is also an inspiration for every woman who dreams about becoming big in this world and deciding to still raise a healthy family.
With ‘Lean In’ she became a true leader and role model
In 2013, Sheryl published her book “Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead.” It has instantly become a guide for all women struggling to achieve a balance between their professional career and personal life.
After the book was released, people recognized the inspiration and addressed the author. The response from the readers made Sandberg take more action, so she created the non-profit organization Lean In.
Since then, over 380.000 women and men joined the community of Lean In. It has 34.000 circles in 157 countries around the world. It seems like Sheryl was just one of the many who wanted to share its story about how she coped with the burden of being a mother, partner, and chief operating officer in one of the greatest companies in the world.
The organization and its circles regularly hold meetings where people share their interests, talk about the business world, and how it makes them feel while they are at home doing what ordinary people do every day. Around 85% of people involved in the circles admitted that this made a positive change in their lives.
Final words on Sheryl Sandberg
While not many people are aware of Sheryl’s importance in the tech world, it’s obvious that without her position at Facebook, we might not have seen the rise of this platform as we know it today.
About today’s writer
Tamara Backovic has a background in computer science, tech research, and lasagna. She started in IT, but her interests quickly dissolved into many overlapping branches spanning from technology to economics. A generalist and trend-spotter, she likes challenges.
Top photo credit: World Economic Forum from Cologny, Switzerland, CC BY-SA, via Wikimedia Commons
Thank you, Tamara, for sharing Sheryl with us! That was most interesting! Christy, thank you for sharing Tamara with us!
Her story is a very interesting one. It just goes to show how powerful a woman can be when she follows the lead of her unique gifts, talents and abilities.
Good for Sheryl and her success. I pray that each and every woman recognizes the power they have to create the life they long for. It’s not easy and there will be sacrifices along the way, but it’s so very worth it!
Thanks Christy for sharing her story. 🤗
Thank you for this great insight. A very strong woman, with a lot of energy too. Michael