Sheryl Kara Sandberg, born 28 August 1969 in Washington, D.C., was the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook (later Meta) from 2008 to August 2022 — the second-most senior executive at one of the world's largest technology companies for fourteen years. She wrote the bestselling 2013 book Lean In.

Her Parents

Father: Joel Sandberg — ophthalmologist; founder of Soviet Jewry advocacy work.

Mother: Adele Sandberg — French teacher and Soviet Jewry activist.

Her Siblings

David Sandberg — younger brother; emergency-medicine doctor.

Michelle Sandberg — younger sister; paediatrician.

Her First Husband

Sheryl was briefly married to Brian Kraff in 1993; they divorced in 1994.

Her Second Husband: Dave Goldberg

David Bruce Goldberg (2 October 1967 – 1 May 2015) was CEO of SurveyMonkey. He died in a treadmill accident on holiday in Mexico in May 2015, leaving Sheryl widowed at 45 with two young children.

Their Children

Two children, born in the 2000s, kept private.

Her Third Husband: Tom Bernthal

Tom Bernthal, a marketing consultant and former NBC producer, was the elder brother of The Walking Dead actor Jon Bernthal. Sheryl and Tom married in August 2022. He had three children from his previous marriage.

The Sandberg Family Tree at a Glance

Father: Joel Sandberg — ophthalmologist.

Mother: Adele Sandberg — French teacher.

Siblings: David Sandberg — physician; Michelle Sandberg — paediatrician.

First Husband: Brian Kraff (m. 1993, div. 1994).

Second Husband: Dave Goldberg (1967 – 1 May 2015).

Children with Dave: Two (private).

Third Husband: Tom Bernthal (m. August 2022).

Stepchildren via Tom: Three from his previous marriage.

Sheryl Sandberg:

  • Born 28 August 1969, Washington, D.C.
  • North Miami Beach Senior High School
  • Harvard University (BA Economics, 1991, summa cum laude)
  • Harvard Business School (MBA, 1995)
  • Chief of staff to Larry Summers, US Treasury (1996–2001)
  • VP Global Online Sales, Google (2001–2008)
  • COO of Facebook (Meta) from March 2008 to August 2022
  • Author of Lean In (2013), Option B (2017, on grief after Dave's death)
  • Founder, LeanIn.Org

What the Sandberg Family Story Teaches Us

An ophthalmologist father. A French-teacher mother. Two doctor siblings. A brief first marriage. A second marriage to a fellow tech executive who died at 47 in a holiday accident. A third marriage that combined two families.

For every family — large or small, famous or otherwise — the Sandberg story carries the same lesson. Widowhood reshapes the family tree. The 2015 loss of Dave Goldberg is on the Sandberg family record — as is the 2022 marriage to Tom Bernthal and the stepchildren that came with it. Write down what came after every loss, and how the family rebuilt.

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