Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg's meteoric rise tainted by crisis after crisis

Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg was seen as larger than life, but now employees are asking did she prioritise her own brand over Facebook's.

Facebook Inc. crises this year have put immense pressure on Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, undermining her authority and tainting an image that was burnished by the social-media company’s meteoric rise.

Some of her staff, who saw the executive as larger than life, now blame her for Facebook’s woes. At times, she prioritised her own brand over Facebook’s; surrounded herself with trusted lieutenants who filtered bad news; and didn’t address problems quickly enough or treated them as perception issues not opportunities for real change, according to eight current and former Facebook employees from her side of the organization.