Sheryl Sandberg gets personal security services as she leaves Meta

(Reuters) – Meta Platforms Inc said on Friday its board had approved providing personal security services to former Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, citing “continuing threats to her safety”.

The company, however, did not elaborate on the threats that Sandberg, one of the most powerful women in Silicon Valley, faces. It expects to continue to pay for security services at her residences and during her personal travel from Oct. 1 till June 30 next year.

Sandberg, a close associate of Meta’s Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, said in June she would depart the social media giant after a 14-year stint when she led the company’s often-criticized ads-based business model.

Under Sandberg, the company was also buffeted by revelations in 2018 that U.K. consultancy Cambridge Analytica had improperly acquired data on millions of its U.S. users to target election advertising.

The same year, U.N. human rights investigators said the use of Facebook had played a key role in spreading hate speech that fueled violence against the Rohingya community in Myanmar.

Sandberg will no longer be an employee after Sept. 30 but will remain on its board, the Facebook-owner said in a regulatory filing.

Previously, Meta has spent heavily on the security of its top executives. Last year, the company spent $26.8 million for the personal security and private aircraft of Zuckerberg, it revealed in April.

(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Sriraj Kalluvila)