Facebook No 2 Sheryl Sandberg sells US$91m of stock

Facebook's number two executive Sheryl Sandberg has sold US$91 million of the company's stock, boosting a personal fortune that is estimated to be in the hundreds of million dollars.

Facebook shares sold at their initial public offering in May last year for US$38, but soon after dropped in value.

Only in the past days it has recovered and surpassed that value. The company shares closed on Friday at US$38.50. Sandberg still holds more than 25 million shares, representing about US$1 billion, according to US securities filings. Sandberg made nearly US$31 million in 2011, including base salary, bonuses and stock awards.

The 43-year-old married mother-of-two has enjoyed a meteoric rise in status and wealth. After Harvard and Harvard Business School, she quickly rose from a post as an economist at the World Bank to become the chief of staff for Lawrence Summers, then the Treasury secretary. After that, she jumped to Google and, in 2008, to Facebook.

While Sandberg is said to maintain a strong relationship with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, the two have disagreed over such issues as whether to expand the business into China, sources have said.

Additional reporting by Reuters and Bloomberg