Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg Sold Over 22 Million Facebook Shares Over 10 Years

UTC by Ibukun Ogundare · 3 min read
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg Sold Over 22 Million Facebook Shares Over 10 Years
Photo: World Economic Forum / Flickr

The representative noted that the Facebook COO purchased 48 million restricted stock units, options, and shares while she served at the technology company.

Meta (NASDAQ: FB) chief operating officer (COO) Sheryl Sandberg, has sold more than 22 million Facebook shares worth $1.7 billion. While many corporate executives hold on to their large quantities of bulk shares as an indication of confidence, Sandberg has nearly sold off all she has of Facebook. The shares Sandberg sold equal to more than 75% of her after-tax shares. Smart Insider revealed that Facebook’s executive’s total stock sales are worth about $1.9 billion. Meanwhile, a different analytics firm noted that the total shares could be higher than calculated. According to the director of research at VerityData, Ben Silverman said, Sandberg’s sales in the last 10 years make her “one of the biggest insider sellers at any U.S. company.”

Facebook COO Sold Over 75% of Facebook Shares

A Sandberg spokesperson explained the executive’s acquisition. The representative noted that the Facebook COO purchased 48 million restricted stock units, options, and shares while she served at the technology company. While 20 million were sold for taxes, 22 million were sold through a 10b5-1 pre-schedule selling program. Over time, Sandberg has accrued profits from the stock sales. Facebook reached an all-time high of over $382 per share last September. This is a substantial addition to the $38 per share of the shares prices during the initial public offering (IPO) in 2012. VerityData showed that the average sale price for Sandberg’s stock over the decade was $79.10 per share.

The spokesperson noted that the Facebook COO put some of the proceeds from her shares sales to charity. She gave $107.2 million to the donor-advised fund program, Fidelity Charitable. The philanthropist also revealed that she would continue to fund programs that provide more opportunities for women and girls.

Furthermore, the representative said the reportable gifts Sandberg has made are 4.9 million shares in total. This is with 2.1 million irrevocable transfers to trust for beneficiaries and 2.8 million shares to the executive’s donor-advised fund. Sandberg has donated $484 million in shares based on Smart Insider estimation.

As it stands, she owns about 1.5 million Facebook shares in a revocable trust. Meta’s current pre-market trading price of $197.78 shows that her total shares are worth almost $297 million.

Sandberg Announces Exit After 14 Years of Serving Facebook

Sandberg announced that she is stepping down as the COO of Facebook after 14 years of service. She is leaving Meta as one of the most successful tech women. Sandberg is one of the uncommon non-CEOs and founders that are billionaires. Forbes’s estimation places her wealth as a total of $1.6 billion, making her the second wealthiest woman in tech. Ahead of Sandberg is Meg Whitman. Forbes estimates Whitman is worth an estimated $3.2 billion.

Even as a billionaire, Sandberg is not associated with luxurious properties like other tech magnates. As she exits Facebook, the tech woman plans to give more attention to her philanthropism.

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