New | Sheryl Sandberg can officially change her Facebook status to ‘billionaire’
Upbeat Facebook stock performance brings executive's wealth to new heights
When Sheryl Sandberg heads to this week’s World Economic Forum in Switzerland, she will walk in as a billionaire.
Reports said the Facebook chief operation officer’s wealth officially surpassed US$1 billion on Wednesday on the back of a surge in Facebook stocks, of which she holds about 12.3 million shares. Facebook stocks closed at US$57.51 on Thursday, Bloomberg reported.
At 44, the Harvard-educated Sandberg is one of the youngest female billionaires in the world.
She has worked at internet giant Google and global coffee chain Starbucks, and has written a bestselling book Lean In: Women Work and the Will to Lead.
In 2008, Sandberg joined the popular social network company, becoming its first female director. With her billion-dollar wealth, she now joins the ranks of Facebook’s 29-year-old CEO Mark Zuckerberg, whose net worth last year grew by US$12.4 billion, and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, who has an estimated US$3.2 billion fortune.
Facebook shares sold at their initial public offering in May 2012 for US$38, but soon after dropped in value – before gradually recovering.