- Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg got engaged to Tom Bernthal, founder and CEO of the consulting firm Kelton, earlier this year.
- They were introduced to each other by the brother of Sandberg's late husband, and started dating in the spring.
- She described their decision to forgo a "fairy tale romance" in favor of planning their engagement together on the Byers Market podcast.
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Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg is engaged to Tom Bernthal, CEO and founder of an LA consulting firm, Kelton, and she opened up to Dylan Byers about her engagement on the Byers Market podcast.
Sandberg pointed out that deciding to get married was the biggest decision she could make in her personal life, and she and Bernthal made it together.
"We decided to get married together, we picked out a ring together, we picked out a weekend together," she said. She said there were still aspects she didn't know about that she got to enjoy, like how he planned the actual weekend on the New Mexico ranch. "I wanted the fairy tale ending that I thought I had and then I lost very dramatically," she said.
Sandberg, 50, was previously married to SurveyMonkey CEO Dave Goldberg, who died in 2015 from heart-related causes. She has spoken publicly about dealing with the grief of losing a spouse, and in 2017 published a book about losing her husband and finding joy again with her children. Sandberg has two children from her marriage with Goldberg.
Bernthal, 46, was previously married and has three children. Prioritizing their children was reportedly a common value they shared and bonded over when they were first introduced.
During the interview, Sandberg discussed how it feels to be engaged again after losing her husband nearly five years ago, which she called "one of the hardest things anyone can go through." She says she pictured herself growing old alone, which was scary, but now "I probably appreciate it even more on the other side."
Sandberg is also known for her 2013 book "Lean In," that argued women may hold themselves back in their careers and should be more assertive and demand raises, much like men. On the podcast, she talked about combating inequality in her own relationship. "Dating is a place that really is still incredibly unequal," she said, explaining that rather than asking her father's permission, she and Bernthal told all four of their parents together and asked for a blessing.
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