Javier Olivan

Javier Oliván López[1] (born 1977) is a Spanish-American business executive who has been chief operating officer of Meta Platforms since 2022, having succeeded Sheryl Sandberg.[2][3]

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Oliván and the second or maternal family name is López.

Javier Olivan
Oliván in 2022
Born
Javier Oliván López

1977 (age 45–46)
Sabiñánigo, Spain
Alma mater
OccupationBusiness executive
Known forCOO of Meta Platforms
Board member ofEndeavor Global
Children2

Early life, education and career

Oliván was born in 1977 in Sabiñánigo, Huesca, Spain.[2][4] His father Florián is a retired businessman who ran a hardware store and an arcade, while his mother María Pilar is a retired professor from the Biello Aragón Institute.[5][6]

Education and early career

Between 1995 and 2002, Oliván studied electrical and industrial engineering at Tecnun, the School of Engineering of the University of Navarra in Gipuzkoa.[5][7] He then joined Siemens as a research and development engineer in Munich, Germany, where he patented an algorithmic system for digital image processing, before moving to Tokyo, Japan, to work for NTT Data on wireless video technologies.[2][4][1] He later worked as product manager at Siemens Mobile where he led a team responsible for mobile device development.[8][9]

In 2005, he enrolled in the MBA program at Stanford University,[10] where he took a course that analyzed case studies of startups, including Facebook.[11] As a student, along with several friends, he worked on creating a Spanish-language version of Facebook, called Nosuni.[4] Though the project was a failure,[12] Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, reached out and asked Oliván to work for him. He accepted the offer after graduating in 2007.[10][13]

Meta Platforms

Oliván joined Facebook (now Meta Platforms) in October 2007 as head of international growth under Chamath Palihapitiya.[14][11] As a founding member of the growth team,[15] he oversaw the company's international expansion—into new markets and languages.[16][4] Between 2011 and 2018, he served as vice president of the growth team.[14] He advocated the Internet.org and Facebook Lite initiatives during this period. He advised multiple acquisitions including that of WhatsApp and Onavo.[16][9] In 2018, he took charge of the trust and safety team to tackle misinformation on its platforms.[9] He was the vice president of Central Products between 2018 and 2022, after which he was promoted to chief growth officer.[14]

In August 2022, Oliván replaced Sheryl Sandberg as chief operating officer after she stepped down 14 years into the role.[16][17]

Other activities

He was recognized as a Henry Crown Fellow by the Aspen Institute in 2014.[18] He serves on the board of the non-profit, Endeavor Global.[8] Previously, he was a board member of the e-commerce company Mercado Libre for six years.[2] He was also on the board of Vy Global Growth, a special-purpose acquisition company that invested in geospatial imaging firm Satellogic before the SPAC deal completed in 2022.[2]

Personal life

Oliván lived in Palo Alto, California, before moving to Spain and working remotely as of 2023.[13][19] He is married and has two daughters.[6] He met his wife while he was an Erasmus student in Munich.[20] He is fluent in five languages, including French, German, and Japanese.[12][16] He is fond of surfing and paragliding.[21]

References
  1. Otto, Carlos (May 22, 2016). "El español que se hizo millonario cuando Facebook salió a Bolsa" [The Spaniard who became a millionaire when Facebook went public]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Archived from the original on April 14, 2021.
  2. Novet, Jordan (June 1, 2022). "Javier Olivan, who's replacing Sheryl Sandberg at Meta, built his career on international expansion". CNBC. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023.
  3. Bobrowsky, Meghan (June 3, 2022). "Meta's Sheryl Sandberg Successor Is Mark Zuckerberg's Quiet Growth Engine". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on June 3, 2022.
  4. Mount, Ian (June 2, 2022). "Who is Javier Oliván, Sheryl Sandberg's replacement as Meta COO?". Fortune. Archived from the original on June 2, 2022.
  5. Errazti, Izaskun (May 27, 2023). "Javier Oliván, el consejero fiel de Zuckerberg" [Javier Oliván, Zuckerberg's faithful advisor]. El Correo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on October 17, 2023.
  6. Villanueva, María José (June 5, 2022). "De Silicon Valley a Arguisal: la casa del número 2 de Facebook en el Serrablo" [From Silicon Valley to Arguisal: the house of Facebook number 2 in Serrablo]. Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). Archived from the original on February 5, 2023.
  7. Soriazu, Dani (June 4, 2022). "Las raíces guipuzcoanas del nuevo número dos de Meta" [The Guipuzcoan roots of Meta's new number two]. El Diario Vasco (in Spanish). Archived from the original on June 4, 2022.
  8. "Meta appoints Javier Olivan as COO, long-time COO Sheryl Sandberg". The Economic Times. June 2, 2022. Archived from the original on December 8, 2022.
  9. Heath, Alex (June 2, 2022). "Meta's next COO spent 14 years leading the platform's relentless growth". The Verge. Archived from the original on March 25, 2023.
  10. Morris, Chris (June 1, 2022). "What we know about Javier Oliván, Facebook-parent Meta's new COO". Fast Company. Archived from the original on July 1, 2022.
  11. Levy, Steven (June 3, 2023). "Meta's New COO Is Nothing Like Sheryl Sandberg". Wired. Archived from the original on June 10, 2023.
  12. Sanchez, Alvaro (June 2, 2022). "Javier Oliván, el español que susurra al oído de Mark Zuckerberg" [Javier Oliván, the Spaniard who whispers in the ear of Mark Zuckerberg]. El País (in Spanish). Archived from the original on September 29, 2022.
  13. Canales, Katie (August 17, 2022). "Meet new Meta COO Javier Olivan, the 'super-low-ego, humble' company veteran filling Sheryl Sandberg's large shoes who rarely uses Facebook or Instagram". Business Insider. Archived from the original on March 20, 2023.
  14. Goldsmith, Jill (June 1, 2022). "Sheryl Sandberg Stepping Down As COO Of Meta, Formerly Called Facebook". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 15, 2022.
  15. MacMillan, Douglas (July 27, 2012). "Chasing Facebook's Next Billion Users". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on August 12, 2022.
  16. Wagner, Kurt (August 11, 2022). "Mark Zuckerberg's Sheryl Sandberg Replacement Has Long Been Meta's Top Fixer". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on August 15, 2022.
  17. Moon, Mariella (August 2, 2022). "Sheryl Sandberg officially steps down as COO of Meta". Engadget. Archived from the original on October 15, 2022.
  18. Below, Carlos Gomez (June 4, 2022). "Un amigo español para entrar en el metaverso" [A Spanish friend to enter the metaverse]. El País (in Spanish). Archived from the original on August 16, 2022.
  19. Arana, Ismael (February 3, 2023). "Javier Oliván, 'número 2' de Zuckerberg en Meta, teletrabajará desde España como "nómada digital"" [Javier Oliván, Zuckerberg's 'number 2' in Meta, will telework from Spain as a "digital nomad"]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Archived from the original on October 19, 2023.
  20. Jiminez, Miguel (April 15, 2023). "El español Javier Oliván ganó 21,4 millones de dólares en 2022 como jefe de operaciones de Meta" [The Spanish Javier Oliván earned 21.4 million dollars in 2022 as head of operations at Meta]. El País (in Spanish). Archived from the original on May 22, 2023.
  21. Dang, Sheila; Paul, Katie (June 1, 2022). "Who is Javier Olivan, Meta's next COO?". Reuters. Archived from the original on November 30, 2022.
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