10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Sheryl Sandberg
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She Taught Aerobics In The 1980s
Long before becoming a leading tech executive, Sandberg taught aerobics classes when she was in high school and in college during the 1980s. She reportedly taught those classes while decked in a silver leotard, leg warmers, and a shiny headband. Sandberg stood out at college for being an aerobics instructor. Whereas most of her fellow classmates were only focused on studying and hanging out in the dorms, Sandberg went a step further by earning money with this job.
She Taught Aerobics In The 1980s
Long before becoming a leading tech executive, Sandberg taught aerobics classes when she was in high school and in college during the 1980s. She reportedly taught those classes while decked in a silver leotard, leg warmers, and a shiny headband. Sandberg stood out at college for being an aerobics instructor. Whereas most of her fellow classmates were only focused on studying and hanging out in the dorms, Sandberg went a step further by earning money with this job.
She Worked For Lawrence Summers In The United States Department Of The Treasury
Lawrence Summers hired Sandberg to work in the United States Department of the Treasury in 1996. Sandberg was only 26 when she was asked to join the team, which is usually offered to people with more experience. While working for Summers, Sandberg played an important role with the Treasury's task to forgive debt in the developing world during the Asian financial crisis. She worked with Summers until 2001, which was the end of Summer's time at the Treasury Department.
She Met Mark Zuckerberg At A Christmas Party
In December 2007, Sandberg was working as an executive for Google when she finally met Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at a Christmas Party held by executive Dan Rosensweig. Over the next few months, Zuckerberg spoke to Sandberg about his vision for Facebook and how she can help them grow. By March 2008, Zuckerberg knew that Sandberg was the right person to join Facebook as the chief operating officer. As of 2018, Sandberg still holds that position with Facebook.
She Teamed Up With Beyoncé To Ban The Word 'Bossy'
In 2014, Sandberg and the Girl Scouts launched a campaign to ban the word "bossy." The issue was that the word was sexist in nature and discouraged women from achieving leadership positions. Sandberg positioned the campaign as a way to encourage women to fight the stigma and become leaders. Several female celebrities, including Beyoncé and Jane Lynch, participated in a public service announcement to ban this word. As part of the campaign, materials were provided for teachers and students.
She Blasted Donald Trump
In 2016, shortly after winning the election, Donald Trump met with several tech leaders — including Sandberg, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and Apple CEO Tim Cook. During the campaign, Sandberg was a proudly outspoken supporter of Hillary Clinton. Although Sandberg did not speak out against Trump at the meeting, she later criticized him. In 2017, she slammed Trump’s executive order on abortion rights.
"Women’s rights are human rights — and there is no more basic right than health care," she wrote on Facebook.
She's Met With World Leaders
As the COO of the world's largest social media network, Sandberg has meet with numerous world leaders to discuss important matters. After all, Facebook has more users than any single country's population. Sandberg has spoken with leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. In 2017, Sandberg told Merkel that Facebook was not going to compete against Germany's car manufacturers.
"We’re the only company in Silicon Valley that’s not building a car,” Sandberg said.
She Uses A Spiral-Bound Notebook To Keep Track Of To-Do Lists
Despite working at one of the largest tech companies in the world, Sandberg refuses to use a digital tablet or any mobile device for keeping track of important details. Instead, she relies on a spiral-bound notebook — similar to one that she would carry around as a child. Sandberg says that the notebook helps her organize her thoughts and keep track of important tasks. Once every task on a page is complete, she rips the page from the notebook.
She Divorced After One Year Of Marriage
In 1993, Sandberg married Brian Kraff. At the time, Sandberg was just 24 years old. One year later, as Sandberg's career began to take off, her marriage came to an end with a divorce. Years later, Sandberg wrote in her book, Lean In, that marriage is the "single most important career decision" for a woman. She didn't let the divorce stop her from having a successful career, and it didn't stop her from finding a new spouse. In 2004, Sandberg married Yahoo! executive and SurveyMonkey CEO Dave Goldberg.
She Is A Widow
Sandberg married her second husband, SurveyMonkey CEO Dave Goldberg, in 2004. Goldberg suddenly passed away after sustaining head trauma from a treadmill fall. A month after his death, Sandberg penned a viral Facebook post discussing her struggles and the support that she received at the time. She later wrote that her coworkers at Facebook looked at her "like a ghost" and did not speak to her at first. Her story of grief has served as inspiration for people in similar situations.
She's Dating Again
In 2017, with the release of her new book called Option B, Sandberg revealed that she was dating again after the sudden loss of her husband in 2015. Sandberg was reportedly encouraged by her in-laws to go out and date again. In 2017, she began dating Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, and they are still dating each other as of 2018.
“People judge women much more than men if they start dating again,” Sandberg told People.
