Former OpenAI Applications CEO Fidji Simo has revealed that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg once advised her to “play the long game” after she turned down a year-long medical leave while working at Facebook. Fidji Simo shared the personal story while announcing that she is stepping down from her role leading OpenAI’s applications business to focus on recovering from postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a chronic illness she has lived with for the past seven years. She said she now wishes she had listened to Zuckerberg’s advice.
Fidji Simo recalls Mark Zuckerberg’s advice
In a post on social media, Fidji Simo said she became ill while working at Facebook, where she spent a decade in several leadership roles. She said doctors, friends, colleagues and family members encouraged her to slow down.“Over the years, doctors, friends, colleagues, and loved ones encouraged me to slow down,” she wrote. Simo revealed that Facebook offered her a full year of medical leave two years after she became sick.“Two years after I got sick, Facebook offered me the opportunity to take a full year of medical leave. I didn’t even pause to consider it. I immediately said no,” she wrote.She then recalled Mark Zuckerberg’s advice.“At the time, Zuck told me I should play the long game. I wish I had listened.”Looking back, Simo said she now understands that the same determination that helped her succeed also made it difficult to step away from work.
Fidji Simo stepping down to focus on recovery
Fidji Simo said she has been living with POTS, a condition that affects the body’s autonomic nervous system and can cause symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, rapid heartbeat, headaches and fainting.She described it as “jarring” to spend her days helping build the future of AI while managing a disabling illness that currently has no cure.Simo announced that she is stepping down from her executive role at OpenAI and will move into a part-time advisory position. Ending her message, Simo said her immediate priority is recovery, adding that she continues to believe technology has the potential to solve deeply human problems.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Fidji’s announcement
Responding to her announcement, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote on X:“i am really sad about this and very grateful for all fidji has done for openai, and even grateful for her friendship and who she is as a person. we all wish her the best for a speedy recovery. this sucks.”