By The Acquisition Group Blog October 17, 2019
We’re fully in the Facebook age and Mark Zuckerberg is the one who got us here. Regarded as one of the most innovative minds of his generation, Mark Zuckerberg developed technology that successfully connects everyone online in the world. Strangely enough, as one of the youngest billionaires in the world, he never intended on building a company. “Ten years ago, you know, I was just trying to help connect people at colleges and a few schools” Mark Zuckerberg told Freakonomics Radio as part of its six-week series called “The Secret Life of CEOs”.
Early Life
Born in 1984, he is part of the last generation of human beings who remember life before the internet. Zuckerberg quickly learned computer programming skills in middle school and his dad hired a professional developer to tutor him.
In high school, he used his creativity to build a smart music player that utilized machine learning to remember and then guess the user’s listening preferences. He also built computer games often out of ideas other students would draw for him. During his college years at Harvard, he was known as the programming prodigy due to the awards he had won in high school. He wrote a program in his first year called “CourseMatch” that helped students make decisions about the courses they wanted to take based upon the choices of others.
Creating Facebook
In Harvard, the students used books called “Facebooks” which had pictures and names to identify the people who lived in the dorms. Mark built a Harvard-specific photo rating site named “Facemash” where site visitors had to choose which person was better-looking. The site used photographs taken from Harvard’s online Facebooks, without student permission. The popularity of the Facemash caused servers to crash at Harvard and the college shut the site down shortly after citing copyright and security concerns.
In 2004, he partnered with friends in his dorm room to create “The Facebook”, where Harvard students could opt-in by creating an account on the social networking site. The site rapidly grew with users and Zuckerberg offered it to all Ivy League schools. By the end of 2004, The Facebook had over 1 million registered users. By 2005, “The Facebook” was known as Facebook. The site opened up to anyone over the age of 13 in 2006. Zuckerberg dropped out of school to manage Facebook full-time. As Facebook grew, their services expanded to include tagging, marketplace, gifts, video chat and more. They also acquired Instagram, Whatsapp, and Oculus VR.
Vision
Zuckerberg had one vision – he wanted his passion project to make an impact on people, without money being his priority. Although he did not set out to build a business, Facebook rose from a Harvard dorm room project to world domination with over 2 billion monthly users. When it comes to influence, Zuckerberg has signed the giving pledge, which is a commitment to contribute a majority of his wealth to philanthropic causes.
Zuckerberg has created a strong company culture that encourages risk-taking to constantly try new methods. Mark’s story as an internet entrepreneur encourages people to discover what they are most passionate about and take risks in pursuit of your goals.
Our favourite quote from Mark Zuckerberg is:
“The biggest risk is not taking any risk… In a world that changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.”
FAQs
Mark Zuckerberg's educational journey commenced at Harvard University in 2002, where he enrolled to study a double major in Computer Science and Psychology. During this period, he sharpened his programming skills and advanced his computer science skills which were pivotal in the making of Facebook.
What makes Mark Zuckerberg successful in business? ›
He is known for his hands-on approach, and he is deeply involved in every aspect of Facebook's operations. Zuckerberg is passionate about innovation and is always pushing his team to come up with new ideas and features that improve the user experience.
How much is Eduardo Saverin worth now? ›
He also invested in early-stage startups such as Qwiki and Jumio. With an estimated net worth of US$26.2 billion as of February 2024, he is the 65th richest person in the world, and the richest Brazilian.
How many children does Mark Zuckerberg have? ›
Mark Zuckerberg is one of the most notable tech gurus and entrepreneurs globally. However, intimate details about his personal life are relatively private. For instance, unbeknown to most, he has a wife. This article sheds some light on Mark's wife, Priscilla Chan, and their three children, August, Maxima, and Aurelia.
What is Mark Zuckerberg's IQ? ›
Einstein IQ: 160+, Bill Gates IQ: 150+, Elon Musk IQ: 155, Zuckerberg IQ: 152, Sunny Doel's IQ: over 160.
What degree does Bill Gates have? ›
Bill Gates never finished his undergraduate degree — the billionaire dropped out of Harvard University after three semesters to start Microsoft. “What does a college dropout know about graduation?
What did Mark Zuckerberg do to become a billionaire? ›
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (/ˈzʌkərbɜːrɡ/; born May 14, 1984) is an American businessman. He co-founded the social media service Facebook, along with his Harvard roommates in 2004, and its parent company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook, Inc.), of which he is chairman, chief executive officer and controlling shareholder.
What age did Mark Zuckerberg become successful? ›
In 2007, at age 23, he became the world's youngest self-made billionaire. By 2012, the social network hit one billion users, the same year in which Zuckerberg took the company public, still holding majority shares. His net worth in 2023 is estimated at $84 billion.
What did Mark Zuckerberg invent? ›
Mark Zuckerberg (born May 14, 1984, White Plains, New York, U.S.) is an American computer programmer who was cofounder and CEO (2004– ) of Facebook, a social networking website.
How much did Zuckerberg pay the twins? ›
The Winklevii and Narendra alleged that Zuckerberg stole their idea to create Facebook. They sued in 2004, and after a legal battle that lasted four years, eventually settled with the Meta CEO for $65 million in mediation.
However, creative differences between Saverin and Zuckerberg led to tension at the company. Once Sean Parker came into the picture, Zuckerberg adhered to his advice more than Saverin's. This led to Saverin's dismissal from Facebook, an end to his friendship with Zuckerberg, and a lawsuit.
Is Sean Parker still a part of Facebook? ›
Parker became president of Facebook in 2004. In 2005 Parker was arrested for cocaine possession in North Carolina. No charges were filed, but he was forced to step down as president of Facebook (though he continued to own a minority stake in the company worth hundreds of millions of dollars).
What did Bill Gates study at Harvard? ›
He did not stay at Harvard long enough to choose a concentration, but took mathematics (including Math 55) and graduate level computer science courses. While at Harvard, he met fellow student and future Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Gates left Harvard after two years while Ballmer stayed and graduated magna cum laude.
Did Mark Zuckerberg get a PhD? ›
No. Zuckerberg didn't graduate from Harvard. He dropped out, when his Facebook became a success. He received an “honarary degree".
What was Mark Zuckerberg's SAT score? ›
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, reportedly scored a perfect 1600 on his SATs. His high score likely played a role in his admission to Harvard University before he dropped out to focus on developing Facebook.
What is Mark Zuckerberg's education? ›
In 2002, Mark Zuckerberg started his academic journey at Harvard University, renowned for its academic excellence. He pursued a double major in psychology and computer science. Zuckerberg quickly made a name for himself at Harvard with his exceptional coding skills.
