Former Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg asked a younger female employee to “come to bed” and made an assistant spend thousands on lingerie for her, a whistleblower claims in a new book.
Sarah Wynn-Williams, the author of Careless People and a former director of global public policy for Facebook, claims Sandberg and an assistant slept in each other’s laps and stroked each other’s hair on a European trip. The book also contains damning allegations against Joel Kaplan, Sandberg’s ex-boyfriend and Meta’s president of global affairs, and unflattering anecdotes about CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
A review in The New York Times revealed details of the book a day ahead of its release.
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Sandberg, currently worth more than $2 billion, worked for Facebook until 2022, penning a widely read memoir, Lean In, during her tenure. She did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment and has yet to speak on the allegations elsewhere.
Wynn-Williams worked at Facebook for seven years until 2018.
The book alleges that on a 12-hour trip on a private jet, Sandberg, wearing pajamas, took the only bed on the aircraft, then demanded that Wynn-Williams, who was then pregnant, join her, saying, “Come to bed.” Wynn-Williams declined, reportedly upsetting Sandberg.
NBC News reported that Sandberg told her at the end of the flight, “You should have got into bed.” However, one employee who was on the plane and spoke to NBC anonymously said everyone was worried about Wynn-Williams given she was pregnant and urged her to get some rest.
Wynn-Williams further writes that she was horrified when Sandberg instructed a 26-year-old assistant to purchase $13,000 worth of lingerie for the pair. Wynn-Williams also claimed that during a drive in Europe, Sandberg and her assistant took turns sleeping in each other’s laps and stroking each other’s hair.
Sandberg left the company after 14 years, with reports claiming she had been “burned out” and tired of being a “punching bag for the company.” In 2024, she stepped down from its board of directors.
Sandberg recently married Thomas Bernthal, former CEO and founder of consulting firm Kelton Global. She was previously married twice: to Brian Kraff and former SurveyMonkey CEO Dave Goldberg, who died suddenly in 2015. Sandberg also dated Bobby Kotick, a former CEO of Activision.
Sandberg wasn’t the only executive at the company to cross boundaries, Wynn-Williams alleges.
Joel Kaplan, Sandberg’s ex-boyfriend and Meta’s president of global affairs, allegedly grinded against Wynn-Williams at a work party and said she looked “sultry.”
Wynn-Williams alleged that, when she delivered her second child—which almost killed her due to an embolism—Kaplan insisted she do weekly video calls and emailed her repeatedly during maternity leave. After the birth, Kaplan reportedly asked, “Where are you bleeding from?”
Kaplan did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment on the allegations.
Meta has denied the claims and disparaged Wynn-Williams, calling her an “anti-Facebook activist.”
“This is a mix of out-of-date and previously reported claims about the company and false accusations about our executives,” the company told the Daily Beast in a statement.
“Eight years ago, Sarah Wynn-Williams was fired for poor performance and toxic behavior, and an investigation at the time determined she made misleading and unfounded allegations of harassment,” it continued. “Since then, she has been paid by anti-Facebook activists and this is simply a continuation of that work.
“Whistleblower status protects communications to the government, not disgruntled activists trying to sell books.”
Publisher Flatiron Books defended the book, accusing the company of pushing for “a gag order to silence our author.”
“This book is a first person narrative account of what the author herself witnessed,” the publisher said. “We thoroughly vetted the book. We have no obligation to give Meta or anyone else the opportunity to shut down her story.”
Debbie Frost, a former Meta spokesperson who was mentioned in the book, denied the account.
“I’m reading the book my former colleague has written about her experience at Facebook/Meta, in which I am frequently mentioned,” she wrote on Meta’s Threads. “While I appreciate everyone’s perspective is different, a bunch of the stories are exaggerated or just didn’t happen.”
Tessa Lyons, an Instagram vice president, also denied the allegations in a post on Threads.
“While I respect that everyone’s experience can differ, I had a front row seat to many of the stories described in the book—some of which are about me,” Lyons posted. “On those, I can say categorically that they were not as described and that the picture she paints is dishonest and distorted.”
She also defended Sandberg.
“I worked directly for Sheryl Sandberg for several years, including those covered by the book,” she wrote. “Sheryl was an incredible champion of the women at Meta.”
