Who is Javier Olivan, Meta's new Chief Operating Officer?
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Javier Olivan has worked at Meta for over 14 years and has led teams handling the company's many projects, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger
Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook owner of Meta Platforms Inc's Chief Operating Officer is leaving the company after 14 years. Announcing the move on Facebook, Sandberg wrote "When I took this job in 2008, I hoped I would be in this role for five years. Fourteen years later, it is time for me to write the next chapter of my life."
Taking over for her is the current Chief Growth Officer Javier Olivan.
Who is Olivan?
Javier Olivan has worked at Meta for over 14 years and has led teams handling the company's many projects, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger.
As per a Reuters report, he has played a crucial, albeit behind the scenes role in Meta's growth over the last 15 years.
Background:
Before joining Facebook in late 2007, Olivan worked at Japan's NTT and Siemens.
He grew up in the Pyrenees region of Spain and holds a degree in Electrical and Industrial engineering from the University of Navarra. He also has a Stanford master's degree in business administration.
Journey at Facebook:
Back when Olivan joined Facebook, the then young company had only about 40 million users. Today this number has reached nearly 3.6 billion (including Facebook, Instagram and other apps).
As per a 2010 interview with VentureBeat, Javier was instrumental in Facebook's expansion into countries like India, Japan, Russia, Indonesia and Brazil.
Watch | Sheryl Sandberg steps down as Meta COO after 14 years
Current position:
Currently, he's the Chief Growth Officer of Meta, and as part of this job, he managed features and functions that span Facebook and its other applications like Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger.
New role:
As per a post by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in his new role as the COO (Chief Operating Officer), Olivan will continue to lead infrastructure and development. Additionally, he would also look after advertising and business products.
However, he will continue to stay out of the limelight.
"This role will be different from what Sheryl has done. It will be a more traditional COO role where Javi will be focused internally and operationally, building on his strong track record of making our execution more efficient and rigorous," Zuckerberg said.
Olivan may have less autonomy now that Meta is a mature firm with $118 billion in revenue than Sandberg did when she arrived in the company's early years, says to Brian Wieser, global head of business intelligence at ad agency GroupM.
(With inputs from agencies)
