Why You Can Trust CNET Sandberg turned down job as LinkedIn CEO in 2006
At the time, Sheryl Sandberg was planning for a second child. A few years later, Mark Zuckerberg came knocking; the rest is history.
In the summer of 2006, Sheryl Sandberg, then an accomplished senior Google executive, received a call from LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman. LinkedIn was searching for a new chief executive. Was she interested?
No.
"I thought it was a great opportunity, and after five years in the same position at Google I was ready for a new challenge," she said. "But the timing was tricky. I was 37 years old and wanted to have a second child. I told Reid the truth: regrettably, I had to pass...."
A few years later, Mark Zuckerberg came knocking; the rest is history. The LinkedIn tidbit comes courtesy of The Wall Street Journal, which got an advance look at Sandberg's new book, "Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead." The book will be released March 11.