MARK ZUCKERBERG BIOGRAPHY

Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is an American computer programmer, Internet

entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is best known as one of fve cofounders
of the social networking website !acebook.
Born: Ma" #$, #%&$ 'age ()*, +hite ,lains, -ew .ork, /nited 0tates
Spouse1 ,riscilla 2han 'married 3)#3*
Siblings1 4andi Zuckerberg, Arielle Zuckerberg, 5onna Zuckerberg
Parents1 6aren Zuckerberg, Edward Zuckerberg
Eu!ation1 ,hillips E7eter Academ" '3)))83))3*, Ardsle" High 0chool
'#%%&83)))*, Harvard /niversit", Merc" 2ollege
A"ars1 9ime:s ,erson of the .ear Mark Elliot Zuckerberg
Resien!e: ,alo Alto, 2alifornia, /.0.
O!!upation: 2hairman ; 2E< of !acebook, Inc.
Years a!ti#e: 3))$ 8 present
Kno"n $or: 2ofounding !acebook in 3))$ and world:s 3nd "oungest self
made billionaire '3)#3*
Ho%e to"n: 5obbs !err", -ew .ork, /.0.
Salar&1 /0 =#>$?
'et "ort(: Increase /0 =3@.( billion 'April 3)#$*
HI09<4. <! AI!E <! MA46 Z/26E4BE4C
Early life of Mark Zuckerberg
Zuckerberg was born in 1984 in White Plains, New York. He is the son of dentist
dward Zuckerberg and !s"chiatrist #aren #e$!ner. He and his three sisters, %andi,
&onna, and 'rielle, were brought u! in &obbs (err", New York, a s$all town about 1)
$iles north of New York *it". Zuckerberg was raised +ewish and had his bar $it,-ah
when he turned 1.. 'fterward, he beca$e an atheist.
't 'rdsle" , Zuckerberg e/celled in classics. He transferred to Philli!s /eter 'cade$"
in his 0unior "ear, where he won !ri,es in science 1$ath, astrono$" and !h"sics2 and
classical studies. 3n his college a!!lication, Zuckerberg clai$ed that he could read and
write (rench, Hebrew, 4atin, and ancient 5reek. He was ca!tain of the fencing tea$. 6n
college, he was known for reciting lines fro$ e!ic !oe$s such as 7he 6liad.
Zuckerberg in becoming as a software developer
Early years
Zuckerberg began using co$!uters and writing software in $iddle school. His father
taught hi$ 'tari 8'96* Progra$$ing in the 199)s, and later hired software de-elo!er
&a-id New$an to tutor hi$ !ri-atel". New$an calls hi$ a :!rodig":, adding that it was
:tough to sta" ahead of hi$:. Zuckerberg took a graduate course in the sub0ect at ;erc"
*ollege near his ho$e while still in high school. He en0o"ed de-elo!ing co$!uter
!rogra$s, es!eciall" co$$unication tools and ga$es. 6n one such !rogra$, since his
father<s dental !ractice was o!erated fro$ their ho$e, he built a software !rogra$ he
called :ZuckNet: that allowed all the co$!uters between the house and dental office to
co$$unicate with each other. 6t is considered a :!ri$iti-e: -ersion of '34<s 6nstant
;essenger, which ca$e out the following "ear.
'ccording to writer +ose 'ntonio =argas, :so$e kids !la"ed co$!uter ga$es. ;ark
created the$.: Zuckerberg hi$self recalls this !eriod> :6 had a bunch of friends who were
artists. 7he"<d co$e o-er, draw stuff, and 6<d build a ga$e out of it.: Howe-er, notes
=argas, Zuckerberg was not a t"!ical :geek?klut,:, as he later beca$e ca!tain of his !re!
school fencing tea$ and earned a classics di!lo$a. Na!ster co?founder 9ean Parker, a
close friend, notes that Zuckerberg was :reall" into 5reek od"sse"s and all that stuff:,
recalling how he once @uoted lines fro$ the %o$an e!ic !oe$ 'eneid, b" =irgil, during
a (acebook !roduct conference.
&uring Zuckerberg<s high school "ears, under the co$!an" na$e 6ntelligent ;edia
5rou!, he built a $usic !la"er called the 9"na!se ;edia Pla"er that used $achine
learning to learn the user<s listening habits, which was !osted to 9lashdot and recei-ed a
rating of . out of A fro$ P* ;aga,ine.
College years
8" the ti$e he began classes at Har-ard, Zuckerberg had alread" achie-ed a :re!utation
as a !rogra$$ing !rodig":, notes =argas. He studied !s"cholog" and co$!uter science
as well as belonging to 'l!ha !silon Pi, a +ewish fraternit", and #irkland House. 6n his
so!ho$ore "ear, he wrote a !rogra$ he called *ourse;atch, which allowed users to
$ake class selection decisions based on the choices of other students and also to hel!
the$ for$ stud" grou!s. ' short ti$e later, he created a different !rogra$ he initiall"
called (ace$ash that let students select the best looking !erson fro$ a choice of !hotos.
'ccording to Zuckerberg<s roo$$ate at the ti$e, 'rie Hasit, :he built the site for fun:.
Hasit e/!lains.
We had books called (ace 8ooks, which included the na$es and !ictures of e-er"one
who li-ed in the student dor$s. 't first, he built a site and !laced two !ictures, or !ictures
of two $ales and two fe$ales. =isitors to the site had to choose who was :hotter: and
according to the -otes there would be a ranking.
7he site went u! o-er a weekendB but b" ;onda" $orning, the college shut it down
because its !o!ularit" had o-erwhel$ed one of Har-ard<s network switches and
!re-ented students fro$ accessing the 6nternet. 6n addition, $an" students co$!lained
that their !hotos were being used without !er$ission. Zuckerberg a!ologi,ed !ublicl",
and the student !a!er ran articles stating that his site was :co$!letel" i$!ro!er.:
7he following se$ester, in +anuar" C))4, Zuckerberg began writing code for a new
website. 3n (ebruar" 4, C))4, Zuckerberg launched :7hefacebook:, originall" located at
thefacebook.co$.
9i/ da"s after the site launched, three Har-ard seniors, *a$eron Winkle-oss, 7"ler
Winkle-oss, and &i-"a Narendra, accused Zuckerberg of intentionall" $isleading the$
into belie-ing he would hel! the$ build a social network called Har-ard*onnection.co$,
while he was instead using their ideas to build a co$!eting !roduct.7he three co$!lained
to the Har-ard *ri$son and the news!a!er began an in-estigation in res!onse.
(ollowing the official launch of the (acebook social $edia !latfor$, the three filed a
lawsuit against Zuckerberg that resulted in a settle$ent.7he agreed settle$ent was for 1.C
$illion (acebook shares that were worth D9E.)) $illion at (acebook<s 6P3.
Zuckerberg dro!!ed out of Har-ard in his so!ho$ore "ear to co$!lete his !ro0ect.6n
+anuar" C)14, Zuckerberg recalled>
6 re$e$ber reall" -i-idl", "ou know, ha-ing !i,,a with $" friends a da" or two afterF
6 o!ened u! the first -ersion of (acebook at the ti$e 6 thought, :You know, so$eone
needs to build a ser-ice like this for the world.: 8ut 6 0ust ne-er thought that we<d be the
ones to hel! do it. 'nd 6 think a lot of what it co$es down to is we 0ust cared $ore.
Career of Zuckerberg
Zuckerberg launched (acebook fro$ his Har-ard dor$itor" roo$ on (ebruar" 4,
C))4.'n earlier ins!iration for (acebook $a" ha-e co$e fro$ Philli!s /eter 'cade$",
the !re! school fro$ which Zuckerberg graduated in C))C. 6t !ublished its own student
director", G7he Photo 'ddress 8ook,H which students referred to as G7he (acebook.H
9uch !hoto directories were an i$!ortant !art of the student social e/!erience at $an"
!ri-ate schools. With the$, students were able to list attributes such as their class "ears,
their friends, and their tele!hone nu$bers.
3nce at college, Zuckerberg<s (acebook started off as 0ust a :Har-ard thing: until
Zuckerberg decided to s!read it to other schools, enlisting the hel! of roo$$ate &ustin
;osko-it,. 7he" began with *olu$bia, New York Dni-ersit", 9tanford, &art$outh,
*ornell, Penn, 8rown, and Yale.9a$"r 4aine, a tri!le 0u$!er re!resenting Haiti at the
C)1C 9u$$er 3l"$!ics, shared a roo$ with Zuckerberg during (acebook<s founding.
:;ark was clearl" on to great things,: said 4aine, who was (acebook<s fourteenth user.
'fter Zuckerberg $o-ed to Palo 'lto, *alifornia with ;osko-it, and so$e friends,
the" leased a s$all house that ser-ed as an office. 3-er the su$$er, Zuckerberg $et
Peter 7hiel who in-ested in the co$!an". 7he" got their first office in $id?C))4.
'ccording to Zuckerberg, the grou! !lanned to return to Har-ard but e-entuall" decided
to re$ain in *alifornia. 7he" had alread" turned down offers b" $a0or cor!orations to
bu" the co$!an". 6n an inter-iew in C))I, Zuckerberg e/!lained his reasoning> :6t<s not
because of the a$ount of $one". (or $e and $" colleagues, the $ost i$!ortant thing is
that we create an o!en infor$ation flow for !eo!le. Ha-ing $edia cor!orations owned b"
conglo$erates is 0ust not an attracti-e idea to $e.:
He restated these goals to Wired $aga,ine in C)1)> :7he thing 6 reall" care about is the
$ission, $aking the world o!en.: arlier, in '!ril C))9, Zuckerberg sought the ad-ice of
for$er Netsca!e *(3 Peter *urrie about financing strategies for (acebook.3n +ul" C1,
C)1), Zuckerberg re!orted that the co$!an" reached the A)) $illion?user $ark. When
asked whether (acebook could earn $ore inco$e fro$ ad-ertising as a result of its
!heno$enal growth, he e/!lained>
6 guess we could..... 6f "ou look at how $uch of our !age is taken u! with ads
co$!ared to the a-erage search @uer". 7he a-erage for us is a little less than 1) !ercent of
the !ages and the a-erage for search is about C) !ercent taken u! with ads..... 7hat<s the
si$!lest thing we could do. 8ut we aren<t like that. We $ake enough $one". %ight, 6
$ean, we are kee!ing things runningB we are growing at the rate we want to.
6n C)1), 9te-en 4e-", who wrote the 1984 book Hackers> Heroes of the *o$!uter
%e-olution, wrote that Zuckerberg :clearl" thinks of hi$self as a hacker:. Zuckerberg
said that :it<s 3# to break things: :to $ake the$ better:. (acebook instituted
:hackathons: held e-er" si/ to eight weeks where !artici!ants would ha-e one night to
concei-e of and co$!lete a !ro0ect. 7he co$!an" !ro-ided $usic, food, and beer at the
hackathons, and $an" (acebook staff $e$bers, including Zuckerberg, regularl"
attended. :7he idea is that "ou can build so$ething reall" good in a night:, Zuckerberg
told 4e-". :'nd that<s !art of the !ersonalit" of (acebook now..... 6t<s definitel" -er" core
to $" !ersonalit".:
=anit" (air $aga,ine na$ed Zuckerberg nu$ber 1 on its C)1) list of the 7o! 1))
:$ost influential !eo!le of the 6nfor$ation 'ge:. Zuckerberg ranked nu$ber C. on the
=anit" (air 1)) list in C))9. 6n C)1), Zuckerberg was chosen as nu$ber 1J in New
9tates$an<s annual sur-e" of the world<s A) $ost influential figures.
6n a C)11 inter-iew with P89 after the death of 9te-e +obs, Zuckerberg said that +obs
had ad-ised hi$ on how to create a $anage$ent tea$ at (acebook that was :focused on
building as high @ualit" and good things as "ou are:.
3n 3ctober 1, C)1C, Zuckerberg -isited %ussian Pri$e ;inister &$itr" ;ed-ede- in
;oscow to sti$ulate social $edia inno-ation in %ussia and to boost (acebook<s !osition
in the %ussian $arket. %ussia<s co$$unications $inister tweeted that Pri$e ;inister
&$itr" ;ed-ede- urged the social $edia giant<s founder to abandon !lans to lure awa"
%ussian !rogra$$ers and instead consider o!ening a research center in ;oscow. 6n
C)1C, (acebook had roughl" 9 $illion users in %ussia, while do$estic clone =# had
around .4 $illion.%ebecca =an &"ck, (acebook<s head of consu$er $arketing, clai$ed
that 8A $illion '$erican (acebook users were e/!osed to the first da" of the Ho$e
!ro$otional ca$!aign on '!ril J, C)1..
3n 'ugust 19, C)1., the Washington Post re!orted that Zuckerberg<s (acebook !rofile
was hacked b" an une$!lo"ed web de-elo!er.
't the C)1. 7ech*runch &isru!t conference, held in 9e!te$ber, Zuckerberg stated that
he is working towards registering the A billion hu$ans who were not connected to the
6nternet as of the conference on (acebook. Zuckerberg then e/!lained that this is
intertwined with the ai$ of the 6nternet.org !ro0ect, whereb" (acebook, with the su!!ort
of other technolog" co$!anies, seeks to increase the nu$ber of !eo!le connected to the
internet.
Legacy
;ark Zuckerberg was na$ed to the 1)) wealthiest and $ost influential !eo!le in the
world list !ut out b" 7i$e $aga,ine in C)1). Zuckerberg who is also +ewish, is listed as
one of the $ost influential +ews in the world as well. His net worth is esti$ated at 1J.8
billion in C)1. and currentl" he is the *3 1*hief /ecuti-e 3fficer2 of the social
co$!an". 7here is no doubt that (acebook has changed the wa" we co$$unicate online
and toda" it re$ains a -er" !o!ular site thanks to this "oung entre!reneur.