Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg Considered For U.S. Treasury Secretary After Timothy Geithner, Sources Say

Timothy Geithner was recently reportedly considering leaving his position as Treasury Secretary after the budget deal is accomplished. Although he has since told the AP that he will remain in the position for the "foreseeable future," some have begun already to speculate about his replacement.

Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO, and one-time chief of staff to former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, is apparently on the shortlist of names for candidates to replace Geithner, according to sources who spoke to a Reuters analyst.

Other names on the list include New York Mayor Bloomberg, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, economist Larry Summers, GE CEO Jeff Immelt, as well as economist Laura Tyson, the CFTC's Gary Gensler and OMB's Jack Lew.

At Facebook, Sandberg functions as Mark Zuckerberg's right hand. As rumors swirl about the social network's preparations for an initial public offering in 2012, and as the company combats its image as a privacy sieve, Sandberg's presence could be more important than ever.

Sandberg also sits on the Disney board of directors.

Business Insider's Henry Blodget sings Sandberg's praises as a potential candidate:

Being Treasury Secretary these days is a thankless job, given the hatred of the Wall Street bailouts, the failure of financial reform, and the massive stimulus and support the government is still directing to the nation's big banks. But if anyone could pull it off and not become an object of loathing, it would be Sheryl. Unlike Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Sheryl also has enough distance from Wall Street that she could do the job without appearing to be a pawn of the big banks and alienating most of the country in the process.

Comments

[Dahveed]

07:24 PM on 08/23/2011

Exellent profile of Sheryl Sandberg in a recent issue of the New Yorker. She's got solid professional work experience (despite association with Larry Summers) as well as executive leadership success. Those in the know predict Sheryl will make a terrific public servant. Why wait? Take the gig! Goodbye, Timmy! Who knows, she could make a great president by 2016.

[Howard53545]

06:21 AM on 07/04/2011

She is a hottie and will make meetings and press conferences more interesting.

[Danek Greori]

01:18 AM on 07/04/2011

What happened to this country? Why is it that only politicians and representatives or employees of multi-national multi-billion dollar companies are ever "eligible" for a governmental position of power and relevance. For something as crucial as the Treasury Dept., there are other people more qualified than those listed above, and who have more relevance to the actual nature of what the Treasury departments function is _supposed_ to be.

[Sam Salinitis]

09:11 PM on 07/03/2011

will we have to use facebook currency in order to make ends meet?

[young man]

04:56 PM on 07/03/2011

very short bench.

[edejan]

08:00 PM on 07/02/2011

WTF??? Who the h*// is making this list? Will we NEVER get rid of these CON jobbers?

[Leviathan21]

02:14 PM on 07/02/2011

It has to be Barney Frank. End of story.

[skyshoes]

06:37 AM on 07/02/2011

Red flag.. Summers..warning..idiot... [blaring horns].. find shelter.... Obama is fishing from the same mud puddle.

[WorkhelpWorkhelp]

07:30 AM on 07/02/2011

Roll eyes - slap forehead....curse.

[mlambush]

08:41 PM on 07/01/2011

Please... another corporate exec? Hey, I know... how about an economist?

[tleb]

08:08 PM on 07/01/2011

I believe she is very qualified, i remember reading an article about her credentials. Read her wikipedia page. Any questions?

[edejan]

08:01 PM on 07/02/2011

Who cares about "qualifications" if she just a continuation of the Bush economic policy? Jamie Dimon is also "qualified" I suppose. When is O going to get some center LEFT people in his cabinet?

[tleb]

04:47 PM on 07/06/2011

So you favor political appointments over qualifications? Isn't that Bush era policy? I'm confused to what your suggesting that would be different? Or do you just want to see a left of center era come into fruition?

Furthermore, you failed to explain how she would be continuation of Bush policies... please explain, or move on and stop trolling huffpost with silly thoughts.

[Sam Salinitis]

09:10 PM on 07/03/2011

or r ead her profile page and leave some farm animals in her farmville game...

[repatriate]

07:09 PM on 07/01/2011

Could we have someone from a real industry, please? Google and Facebook on the resume do not put me in mind of anyone I want in that job.

[tleb]

08:09 PM on 07/01/2011

companies with hyper growth? companies that are now coming up in value close to IBM and Microsoft? Read her credentials, i believe she has some.

[edejan]

08:02 PM on 07/02/2011

Doesn't hypergrowth = bubble? How is that an improvement over Bush era economics?

[thejarter]

06:04 PM on 07/01/2011

Omg. This list is so tainted and shrouded in favouritism that we might as well just move the white house to walle street ( and I am using the original spelling ).

[RyanCSmith]

04:36 PM on 07/01/2011

Funny how none of the names on the short list are people who have a career in public service or regulating the industry.

Is Obama even going to try to pretend he's not in Wall Street's pocket?

[minusjason]

06:41 PM on 07/01/2011

Is mayor of NYC not public service?

[RyanCSmith]

07:00 PM on 07/01/2011

Bloomberg ran a financial news and information service for years before buying the office of Mayor of NYC. Not exactly what I would call a long-time watchdog of the industry or someone who has made a career in public service.

[kdlaiusa]

04:36 PM on 07/01/2011

I'd say Jack Lew.

[javajava]

04:08 PM on 07/01/2011

I think she ought to stay where she is. Corporate types always act true to form. They have too many asscoiates, past and future, that influence decisions.

Her CV is great for a CFO, COO,CEO, whatever, not for Treasury Secretary.