Facebook Lures Top Google Executive

Facebook has raided Google to hire a new chief operating officer, providing the online social network with more seasoned management and advertising savvy.

Sheryl Sandberg’s defection from Google Inc. represents a coup for Facebook Inc.

As vice president of global online sales and operations for the past six years at Google, Sandberg helped build the Internet search leader into one of the world’s most prized companies.

Previously, she was the Treasury Department’s chief of staff during the Clinton administration.

With Sandberg’s hiring, effective March 24, Facebook replaces Owen Van Natta, who left the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company last month.

Besides helping steer Facebook’s expansion, Sandberg, 38, could serve as a mentor for Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s 23-year-old founder and CEO.

“Mark is inspiring,” Sandberg told The Associated Press. “He has more clarity and vision than just about anyone I ever met.”

Zuckerberg called Sandberg “a great manager who will help scale Facebook’s operations globally.”

Facebook’s audience has more than tripled in the past 11 months to 66 million users, making it the second largest social network behind News Corp.’s MySpace.com.

Originally published by Bloomberg AP and Staff Reports.

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