The news that Google veteran Sheryl Sandberg is joining Facebook as its chief operating officer is intriguing for a number of reasons.
First and foremost it's yet more evidence that there's a brain drain across Silicon Valley as a path is worn in the carpet between Mountain View and Palo Alto. Few companies have the power to pull minted execs away from the clutches of the Google troika: Facebook is one.
Secondly, Sandberg is politically connected. Acting as one of the main protagonists at Google's Washington outpost, she's a former Treasury bigwig and reported to be a formidable political operator. Is Facebook after her business smarts, her knowledge of Google's advertising moxy, or looking for some help when it comes to convincing the lawmakers to make Facebook's life easier?
On a far more mundane level, perhaps it also throws some light onto why Sandberg never made it into this Marie Claire photo spread on the women of Google. If only we could read the runes properly...
(Incidentally, Sandberg replaces Owen van Natta, who was bumped aside to "chief revenue officer" status before leaving the company altogether.)
