Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg need you to kn...

On Thursday, The New York Instances revealed a concerning the rise in energy of Stephen Miller, a longtime loyalist of Donald Trump recognized for his hardline views on immigration. Usually, a narrative like that wouldn’t get a lot consideration within the tech press. However the piece opened with an anecdote about Mark Zuckerberg that instantly raised eyebrows.

The story detailed a current assembly Miller had with Zuckerberg when the Meta CEO traveled to Mar-a-Lago final 12 months. In keeping with The Instances, Zuckerberg — who would quickly surrender Meta’s prior efforts and ditch packages — “blamed his former chief working officer, Sheryl Sandberg, for an inclusivity initiative at Fb that inspired staff’ self-expression within the office.”

That line set off a recent spherical of hypothesis (and a few outrage) in tech circles. Sandberg, who left Meta and rose to fame after authoring her ladies within the office manifesto Lean In, was recognized for her as soon as shut partnership with Zuckerberg on the high of Fb. That Zuckerberg would blame his former high lieutenant for fostering “inclusivity” at his firm, even amongst longtime observers of the corporate.

“She all the time knew who Mark Zuckerberg and lined for him,” New York Instances reporter Sheera Frankel, who co-wrote a e-book about Fb’s dominance, noticed . “ The query is whether or not she is going to proceed to take action when he so blatantly throws her below the (Trump) bus.” Journalist and longtime tech pundit Kara Swisher likewise that “people I talked to tonight from the Mark/Sheryl Fb period are shocked however not stunned by his blaming her.”

I additionally weighed in on my , sharing a hyperlink to a Enterprise Insider from February that quoted an interview through which Zuckerberg stated that Sandberg had raised him “like a guardian.” I joked that the remark hadn’t aged nicely.

However on Friday, Zuckerberg determined to let me (and I assume everybody else) know that he and Sandberg are nonetheless cool, in any case. “Sheryl did superb work at Meta and can without end be a legend within the trade,” he wrote in to my put up. “She constructed one of many best companies of all time and taught me a lot of what I do know.”

Zuckerberg didn’t reply once I requested if Sandberg was too centered on DEI initiatives at Meta or whether or not she took away from the “masculine vitality” he just lately companies ought to embody. (Notably, he has not denied The Instances’ reporting about his feedback on Sandberg.)

However, a couple of minutes later, Sandberg to helpfully let me know there are not any arduous emotions on her facet, both. “Thanks, @zuck. I’ll all the time be glad about the numerous years we spent constructing an ideal enterprise collectively – and to your friendship that received me by among the hardest instances of my life and continues to at the present time.”

Zuckerberg responded with a .

So, I assume that settles it. Nothing to see right here, people. Mark and Sheryl are positively nonetheless mates. They might not work on the similar firm anymore, however they’re nonetheless capable of come collectively to go off a possible. What could possibly be extra inspiring than that?