Former Facebook Executive Sheryl Sandberg is at the centre of controversy following explosive allegations detailed in a new memoir by Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former employee of the social media giant, according to media reports.
The book, Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism, details a culture of power excesses within the tech giant and paints a controversial picture of its former leaders, including Sandberg and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
According to Wynn-Williams, during a trip to Europe, Sandberg instructed her then 26-year-old assistant to purchase lingerie for both of them without concern for cost. The final bill reportedly reached $13,000.
The memoir further alleges that Sandberg and her assistant displayed intimate behaviour, taking turns sleeping in each other’s laps and stroking each other’s hair during the journey, the media report added.
Another shocking claim from the book recounts an incident on a private jet flight back home, where Sandberg allegedly invited Wynn-Williams to join her in the only bed available on the aircraft. When Wynn-Williams declined, Sandberg was described as visibly irritated.
Wynn-Williams left Facebook in 2017, before the company rebranded as Meta. A Meta spokesperson has since responded to the allegations, dismissing them as “out-of-date and previously reported claims,” adding that Wynn-Williams was fired for “poor performance and toxic behaviour.”
The memoir also recounts unsettling interactions with Facebook’s former vice president of global policy, Joel Kaplan.
Wynn-Williams alleges that Kaplan made her uncomfortable at a company event by pressing against her on the dance floor and making inappropriate comments about her appearance. She also describes how Kaplan continued to email her persistently during her maternity leave, despite her near-fatal experience with an amniotic fluid embolism, allegedly questioning her condition with intrusive remarks.
Facebook conducted an internal investigation into Kaplan’s conduct, interviewing 17 witnesses over 42 days. Ultimately, the inquiry cleared him of any wrongdoing.
Sarah Feinberg, a former Meta employee, took to social media platform Threads to refute Wynn-Williams’ claims, stating that she did not recognize the version of events presented in the book and personally knew Kaplan to be professional and fair.
The memoir also provides a critical portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg, describing his shift from a coding-obsessed engineer to a power-driven executive. Wynn-Williams alleges that, during a trip to Indonesia, she was instructed to orchestrate a crowd of over a million people to create the appearance of a public frenzy around him.