

Sheryl Sandberg slashes Facebook holdings - foobarqux
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/4a416a32-b93e-11e3-98c5-00144feabdc0.html

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foobarqux
Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s number two executive, has shed more than half her
stake in the social networking company since its initial public offering less
than two years ago, according to an analysis of recent regulatory filings.

The series of disposals, some of which were made to satisfy tax bills, are
likely to add to persistent questions about whether Ms Sandberg is eyeing an
eventual departure from the company for a future in government or as head of
another large company.

However, her name has yet to be closely linked to any senior corporate
positions and she has denied any plans to compete for political office – most
recently in January, when she said that politics was “not for me”.

Also, even after the disposals, Ms Sandberg’s stake worth about $1bn still
makes her one of the largest individual investors in Facebook with a 0.5 per
cent stake.

As chief operating officer, the former Google executive was brought in at a
critical time in Facebook’s development, when the company was first looking to
ramp up its revenues and a young Mark Zuckerberg was still trying to find his
feet.

The Facebook chief executive has since developed a greater management self-
assurance and taken on many of the company’s key decisions, for instance in
his personal handling of deals such as the acquisitions of WhatsApp and
Instagram.

Ms Sandberg has frequently been talked of as a candidate for high office in
Washington. A former chief of staff to Lawrence Summers at the time he was
treasury secretary under Bill Clinton, she was said to have been considered
for that position during the first Obama administration.

Ms Sandberg has sold about 10m shares worth some $400m since Facebook made its
stock market debut in May 2012, according to filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. The sales were made under the “blind” trading plans that
corporate executives use to spread their disposals out over a period of time,
reducing the risk of being accused of trading on privileged information.

She also sold nearly 16m shares in late 2012 to settle a tax bill that fell
due when restricted stock she had in the company vested to become ordinary
shares. Mr Zuckerberg likewise sold $2.3bn worth of shares at the time to
settle his tax bill.

Ms Sandberg’s overall stake in Facebook is now down to 17.2m shares,
restricted stock units and options. At the time of the IPO, she held about 41m
shares, most of them in the form of restricted stock units.

