Mark Zuckerberg
CEO, Meta
Biography
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is an American businessman and programmer who co-founded the social media service Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms. He is its chairman, chief executive officer (CEO), and controlling shareholder.
Career Timeline
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (/ˈzʌkərbɜːrɡ/; born May 14, 1984) is an American businessman and programmer who co-founded the social media service Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms.
The New Yorker noted that by the time Zuckerberg began classes at Harvard in 2002, he had already achieved a "reputation as a programming prodigy".
They began dating in 2003.
Zuckerberg briefly attended Harvard College, and launched Facebook there in February 2004 with his roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes.
In 2005, Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin filed a lawsuit against Zuckerberg and Facebook, alleging that Zuckerberg had illegally spent Saverin's money on personal expenses.
In 2007, Zuckerberg was added to MIT Technology Review's TR35 list as one of the top 35 innovators in the world under the age of 35.
Time named Zuckerberg one of the most influential people in the world in 2008, 2011, 2016, 2019 and 2025, and nominated him as a finalist several other times.
Earlier, in April 2009, Zuckerberg had sought the advice of former Netscape CFO Peter Currie regarding financing strategies for Facebook.
Key Achievements
- Built the largest social networking platform in history
- Acquired and scaled Instagram and WhatsApp to billions of users
- Pivoted Meta towards massive investments in VR and open-source AI (Llama)
Notable Quotes
"I understood that some parts were still a little sketchy and I wanted some more time to think about whether or not this was really appropriate to release to the Harvard community."
"Issues about violating people’s privacy don't seem to be surmountable, I’m not willing to risk insulting anyone."
""Facemash Creator Survives Ad Board" The Harvard Crimson (November 19, 2003)"