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.