Mark Zuckerberg is an American business magnate, computer programmer, internet entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is known for co-founding the social media website Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook, Inc.), of which he is the executive chairman, chief executive officer, and controlling shareholder
He started Facebook at Harvard University in 2004 at the age of 19 for students to match names with photos of classmates.
He dropped out of Harvard in his sophomore year to focus on Facebook. He has a net worth of $85 billion as of May 2023, making him the 14th richest person in the world.
He has also pledged to give away 99% of his Facebook stake over his lifetimes with his wife, Priscilla Chan, through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
He is also interested in developing the metaverse, a virtual reality platform that he believes will be the future of social interaction.
Here is summary some main point
• Mark Elliot Zuckerberg was born on May 14, 1984 in White Plains, New York, U.S. He is the son of Edward Zuckerberg, a dentist, and Karen Kempner, a psychiatrist. He has three sisters: Randi, Donna, and Arielleh
• He attended Phillips Exeter Academy, a prestigious boarding school in New Hampshire, where he excelled in math, science, and classical languages. He also developed an interest in computer programming and created several software applications
• In 2002, he enrolled at Harvard University as a psychology and computer science major. There he met his future wife Priscilla Chan, a fellow student and pediatrician. He also befriended his roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes
• On February 4, 2004, he launched Facebook, a social networking website that allowed Harvard students to create profiles, upload photos, and connect with other students. The site quickly became popular and expanded to other colleges and universities across the country and the world
• In the summer of 2004, he moved to Palo Alto, California with his team to work on Facebook full-time. He dropped out of Harvard in his sophomore year to focus on the company. He also secured funding from venture capitalists such as Peter Thiel and Accel Partners
• In 2007, at age 23, he became the world's youngest self-made billionaire. He also faced several lawsuits from former partners and rivals who claimed that he stole their ideas or breached their contracts
• In 2010, he was named Person of the Year by Time magazine for his impact on social media and global communication. He also donated $100 million to improve public schools in Newark, New Jersey. A film based on his life story, The Social Network, was released and won several awards
• In 2012, he married Priscilla Chan in a private ceremony in his backyard. He also took Facebook public in one of the largest initial public offerings (IPOs) in history, raising $16 billion. However, the stock price soon plummeted due to technical glitches and investor skepticism
• In 2013, he co-founded FWD.us, a lobbying group that advocates for immigration reform and education policies. He also launched Internet.org, an initiative that aims to provide affordable internet access to people in developing countries
• In 2014, he acquired WhatsApp, a messaging app, for $19 billion and Oculus VR, a virtual reality company, for $2 billion. He also announced that he and his wife would donate 99% of their Facebook shares to charitable causes through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), a philanthropic organization that focuses on health, education, science, and justice
• In 2015, he became a father for the first time when his daughter Maxima was born. He also launched Free Basics, a service that offers free access to selected websites in emerging markets. However, the service faced criticism for violating net neutrality principles and was banned in some countries
• In 2016, he was ranked as the 10th most powerful person in the world by Forbes magazine. He also faced backlash for allowing the spread of fake news and misinformation on Facebook during the U.S. presidential election. He denied that Facebook had any significant influence on the outcome of the election
• In 2017, he became a father for the second time when his daughter August was born. He also embarked on a personal challenge to visit all 50 U.S. states and meet people from different backgrounds and perspectives. He also announced that Facebook would hire 3,000 more moderators to review content and prevent violence and suicide on the platform
• In 2018, he testified before the U.S. Congress and the European Parliament about the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal, in which millions of Facebook users' data were harvested without their consent by a political consulting firm that worked for Donald Trump's campaign. He apologized for the breach of trust and promised to improve Facebook's privacy and security practices
• In 2019, he unveiled his vision for a more privacy-focused Facebook that would emphasize encrypted messaging, ephemeral stories, and small groups. He also faced antitrust investigations from U.S. regulators and lawmakers who accused him of stifling competition and harming consumers by acquiring potential rivals such as Instagram and WhatsApp
• In 2020, he pledged to donate $300 million to support the U.S. election process amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He also faced boycotts and protests from civil rights groups and advertisers who accused him of failing to curb hate speech and misinformation on Facebook, especially from President Trump and his supporters. He defended his decision to allow political speech on the platform, citing free expression and public interest
• In 2021, he banned Trump from Facebook and Instagram indefinitely after the Capitol riot on January 6, in which a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Congress to overturn the election results. He also announced that Facebook would invest $1 billion in the news industry over the next three years. He also changed the name of his company from Facebook, Inc. to Meta Platforms, or simply Meta, to reflect its focus on building the metaverse, a virtual reality environment where people can interact and create
• In 2022, he launched Meta Horizon, a social VR platform that allows users to create and explore virtual worlds with their avatars. He also faced criticism for his role in the Facebook Papers, a series of leaked documents that exposed Facebook's internal research and decision-making on various issues such as misinformation, hate speech, mental health, violence, and democracy
• In 2023, he is still the executive chairman, CEO, and controlling shareholder of Meta Platforms, which owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, Oculus, and other products and services. He is also the co-founder and co-CEO of CZI, which supports various causes and projects around the world. He is married to Priscilla Chan and has two daughters, Maxima and August.
