Facebook has hired Google operations executive Sheryl Sandberg as its new COO.
Sandberg spent six years at Google where, as Vice President of Global Online Sales & Operations, she shepherded sales for AdWords and AdSense. Prior to Google, she served as Chief of Staff to Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers during the Clinton administration. Sandberg will join the social network on March 23, filling the void that former Facebook executive Owen Van Natta left when he departed Facebook last month.
This new appointment marks the first time that Facebook has named a female major executive.
Along with her sales and operations experience, Sandberg brings her deep Silicon Valley connections into the social network. She is married to former Yahoo Music executive David Goldberg, an advisor to iLike, a music service which was one of the breakout stars of Facebook's f8 platform launch. Sandberg's brother-in-law is Elevation Partners founder Marc Bodnick, whose partners include Roger MacNamee and U2 frontman Bono.
