Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg want you to know that they are still friends and not mad at each other

Thursday, The New York Times publications a long story about the rise to power of Stephen Miller, a longtime supporter of Donald Trump known for his hard-line views on immigration. Normally, a story like that wouldn’t be of much interest to the technical press. But the piece opened with a Mark Zuckerberg anecdote that immediately raised eyebrows.

The article covered a recent meeting between Miller and Zuckerberg when the Meta CEO visited Mar-a-Lago last year. According to The TimesZuckerberg – who would soon leave Meta ahead to investigate the truth effort is a hole corporate diversity apps – “criticized his former boss, Sheryl Sandberg, for a Facebook integration that encouraged employees to show themselves at work.”

The line sparked new speculation (and outrage) in tech circles. Sandberg, who left Meta in 2022 and became famous after writing his wives in a labor manifesto Lean InHe was known for his close relationship with Zuckerberg at the top of Facebook. Zuckerberg may criticize his former boss for promoting “inclusion” at his company, he raised an eyebrow even among people who have been watching for a long time.

“He always knew who Mark Zuckerberg was covering,” New York Times journalist Sheera Frankel, who co-wrote a book about Facebook’s dominance, observed on Bluesky. “The question is whether they will continue to do so when they secretly throw him (Trump) under the bus.” Journalist and veteran tech expert Kara Swisher is no exception he realized that “the people I spoke to tonight from the Mark/Sheryl Facebook era were shocked but not surprised and blamed him.”

I also gained weight on mine Thread accountshare a link to a Business Insider story of February that quoted in an interview that Zuckerberg said that Sandberg raised him “like a parent.” I joked that the comment didn’t age well.

But on Friday, Zuckerberg decided to let me (and I think everyone else) know that he and Sandberg are still cool, after all. “Sheryl did an amazing job at Meta and will forever be a legend,” he wrote the answer to my post. “He built one of the greatest businesses in history and taught me a lot of what I know.”

A few minutes later, Sandberg he jumped in to let me know that there are no problems on his part, either. “Thank you, @zuck. I will always be grateful for the years we’ve spent building a great business together – and your friendship that got me through the hardest times of my life to date.”

Zuckerberg responded with a one heart emoji.

I asked Zuckerberg if he felt that Sandberg was focusing on DEI’s efforts at Meta, or if he had removed “male power” recently. he told Joe Rogan companies must have them. Obviously, he didn’t refuse The Times’ explaining what he said about Sandberg, though he said it was unclear.

“I answered a question about where the phrase ‘bring all your work to yourself’ came from, and now there are false reports that I blamed Sheryl for a lot of things I never did and never will,” he said. he said. (Bringing “your whole world” to work is a phrase Sandberg popularized in Lean In. Often the same language appeared Meta services page when the company showed differences among its employees. “Being a real person is the core of who we are as a company,” Meta wrote on since-deleted his corporate website where he shared his various internal reports.)

So, I think that sets it up. Nothing to see here, folks. Mark and Sheryl are still friends. They may no longer work for the same company, but they can still come together to solve their potential PR problems. What could be more inspiring than that?

Update, January 17, 2025, 4PM PT: This post has been edited to reflect Zuckerberg’s additional comment.