Mark Zuckerberg 101: The Genius Behind Social Media Empire

Mark Zuckerberg is an American entrepreneur, businessman, and philanthropist. He is the co-founder and CEO of Facebook, one of the world’s most popular social media platforms. He is also a founder and CEO of Meta Inc, a new organization that includes Facebook.

Zuckerberg established Facebook in February 2004, along with his college friends Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes while they were students at Harvard University. Although he lost some of his wealth in recent years, he is still one of the richest and most influential people globally.

Who is Mark Zuckerberg?

Mark Zuckerberg was born on May 14, 1984, in White Plains, New York, to a well-educated family. He grew up in Dobbs Ferry, near New York. His father, Edward Zuckerberg, ran a dental clinic, and his mother worked as a psychiatrist before the birth of their children.

Mark Zuckerberg developed an interest in computers at an early age. When he was 12, he used Atari BASIC to create a messaging program called “Zucknet.” His father used this program in his dental office, where the receptionist could notify him about a new patient without shouting from the other end of the room. The family also used Zucknet to communicate within their home.

Zuckerberg’s family hired a private computer tutor, David Newman, to work with him once a week, knowing about his interest in computers. While in high school, he created the first version of a music software called Synapse. Many companies, including AOL and Microsoft, expressed an interest in purchasing the software and hiring Zuckerberg before he graduated. However, Zuckerberg declined those offers. In 2002, Zuckerberg enrolled at Harvard University.

Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook

In 2004, Zuckerberg and his school friends Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes, and Eduardo Saverin launched “Thefacebook.” The site allowed users to create their profiles, upload photos, and communicate with other users. Initially, only Harvard students could access the site, but it soon became accessible to other universities, such as New York University, Columbia University, Stanford University, Dartmouth, Cornell, and several others.

A few days after the site was launched, three Harvard senior students, Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss, and Divya Narendra, claimed that Zuckerberg had stolen their idea for a social network. According to them, Zuckerberg had agreed to help them create a social network called harvardconnection.com. However, Zuckerberg allegedly took their idea and turned it into Facebook. The trio sued Zuckerberg, resulting in a settlement agreement. They were awarded $65 million after the lawsuit concluded in 2011.

In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg left Harvard during his sophomore year to complete the Facebook project. He, Moskovitz, and the other co-founders moved to Palo Alto, California, where they rented a small house as their office. They were seeking investors, and they met Peter Thiel, a famous investor at that time. Thiel liked the team’s ideas and agreed to invest in their project while becoming their mentor. A project office was then established in Silicon Valley, and the company’s name was changed from “The Facebook” to “Facebook.”

In May 2012, Facebook went public and became one of the largest and most profitable companies in the world. Over the years, Mark Zuckerberg has been involved in various charitable activities, including a $100 million donation to public schools in Newark, New Jersey. He is known as one of the most influential people in the world, with a net worth of approximately $117 billion as of February 2023

Transformation of Facebook to Meta

Meta, formerly known as Facebook Inc., is a California-based American multinational technology holding company. The company owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp among other products and services. Meta’s product and service offerings include Facebook, Messenger, Facebook Watch, and Meta Portal. Additionally, it has acquired Oculus, Giphy, Mapillary, Kustomer, and Presize. It also holds a 9.99% stake in Jio Platforms.

In October 2021, Facebook’s parent company changed its name from Facebook, Inc. to Meta Platforms, Inc. to focus on the popular concept of the metaverse. The metaverse vision and the name change from Facebook, Inc. to Meta Platforms were announced at Facebook Connect on October 28, 2021. According to the company, this change reflects its shifting long-term focus towards creating the metaverse, which is the digital extension of social media, virtual reality, and augmented reality features of the physical world.

Mark Zuckerberg and His Wealth

According to Forbes, Mark Zuckerberg currently has a net worth of $49 billion. However, unlike many of the top-ranking individuals on Forbes’ Billionaires List, Zuckerberg has lost a portion of his wealth over the past two years. In 2022, his net worth was $67.3 billion, while in 2021, it was $97 billion.

With a net worth of $49 billion, Zuckerberg is currently the 25th richest person in the world. He was ranked 11th in 2022 and 5th in 2021.