LOS ANGELES — Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook's parent company Meta, has announced that she is leaving the business after 14 years.

Ms Sandberg announced her departure in a Facebook post saying she hoped to focus on her foundation and philanthropic work in the future.

Her departure comes as Meta faces a slowdown in advertising sales and more competition from rivals such as TikTok.

Ms Sandberg is one of the most high-profile women in the tech industry.

"When I took this job in 2008, I hoped I would be in this role for five years," wrote Ms Sandberg, known as a powerful second-in-command at the company. "Fourteen years later, it is time for me to write the next chapter of my life."

Javier Olivan, currently Meta's chief growth officer, will take over Ms Sandberg's position in the company when she leaves.

Ms Sandberg, whose husband died suddenly in 2015, is getting re-married this summer. She said she planned to leave the company in the autumn but would remain on the board.

Following her announcement, shares in Meta fell 4%.

Ms Sandberg joined Facebook when it was still a small company led by Mark Zuckerberg, a then-23 year-old Harvard dropout. A veteran of Google, she helped turn its advertising business into a profit powerhouse, as the company grew to include Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger.

Last year, the company reported more than $117bn in revenue and said more than 2.8 billion people globally used one of its apps daily. — BBC