Mark Zuckerberg is a renowned American entrepreneur and computer programmer who gained global recognition as the co-founder and CEO of Facebook, the social media giant that revolutionized the way people connect and communicate. Born on May 14, 1984, in White Plains, New York, Zuckerberg’s journey from a college dorm room programmer to a tech titan has left an indelible mark on the digital landscape. At age 23, Mark became the world’s youngest self-made billionaire and the youngest billionaire to feature in the Forbes ten richest people list in 2018. His contributions have earned him numerous accolades, including being named in TIME magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people multiple times as well as being included in several prestigious lists released by renowned magazines like Forbes. With his abundance of popularity and wealth, there come controversies too, as he has been linked to controversies and testified before the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in April 2018. Here’s everything you need to know about the tech mogul.
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Mark Zuckerberg Biography
Mark Zuckerberg was born on the 14th of May 1984, in White Plains, New York, United States of America. According to his birthday, Mark is currently 39 years old.
Birth Name | Mark Elliot Zuckerberg |
Nickname | Zuck |
Date of Birth | May 14, 1984 |
Place of Birth | White Plains, New York, U.S. |
Age | 39 years old as of 2024 |
Sun Sign | Taurus |
Profession | Computer Programmer, Internet Entrepreneur |
Nationality | American |
Ethnicity | Ashkenazi Jewish |
Religion | Atheism |
Residence | Palo Alto, California, U.S. |
Relationship Status | Married |
Children | 3 |
Net Worth | $115 Billion |
Family and Education
Mark Zuckerberg is the only son of four children to Karen (née Kempner), a psychiatrist, and Edward Zuckerberg, a dentist. He has three sisters, Randi, Donna, and Arielle Zuckerberg.
Mark attended Ardsley High School, in New York, followed by Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. He won several prizes during his school days.
He learned to program at a tender age. He enrolled in Mercy College where he studied software programming. Mark was still in high school when he developed software called Zucknet. He also developed a music player, named Synapse Media Player.
Mark then enrolled at Harvard University, majoring in psychology and computer science. In his sophomore year, he developed several software like CourseMatch and Facemash. Eventually, Mark Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard during his sophomore year to complete his project, Facebook, which is today being used by billions of people worldwide.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Wife and Kids
Mark Zuckerberg got married to his longtime girlfriend, Priscilla Chan, in a small ceremony at his home in Palo Alto, California, on May 19, 2012. The couple, who met at Harvard, has been together for nine years. The ceremony took place in Zuckerberg’s backyard in Palo Alto, California. Priscilla graduated from medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, on May 14, 2012, the same day Zuckerberg turned 28.
The couple welcomed their first child, daughter Maxima Chan Zuckerberg (“Max”) on December 1, 2012, and their second daughter, August, in August 2017. Maxima’s official Chinese name is Chen Mingyu. Chan suffered three miscarriages before giving birth to Maxima. Their third daughter Aurelia was born on March 24, 2023.
Physical Statistics
Height | Feet -5 feet 7½ inches Centimeters – 171 cm Meters – 1.71 m |
Weight | Kilograms – 66 kg Pounds – 146 lbs |
Body Build | Slim |
Eye Color | Blue |
Hair Color | Blonde |
Sexuality | Straight |
Shoe Size | 11 (US) / 10.5 (UK) / 44 (EU) |
Distinctive Features | Curly Hair |
Professional Statistics
Companies – Facebook, Inc., ConnectU, FWD.us
Trivia
- Time’s Person of the Year
- Founded the ‘Start-up: Education Foundation’
- Multilingual – English, Latin, Mandarin
Favorite Things
- Music Album – Global Warming by Pitbull
- Pet – Best, Hungarian Sheepdog
- Dress – Grey T-shirt, a hoodie, a pair of jeans, Nike sneakers
- Movie – Titanic
- Books – ‘The Muqaddimah’ by Ibn Khaldun, ‘The New Jim Crow’ by Michelle Alexander, ‘Why Nations Fail’ by Daren Acemoglu and James Robinson, ‘The Rational Optimist’ by Matt Ridley, ‘World Order’ by Henry Kissinger
Quotes
- Make things as simple as possible but no simpler by Albert Einstein
- All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once you grow up by Pablo Picasso
- The web is at a really important turning point right now. Up until recently, the default on the web has been that most things aren’t social and most things don’t use your real identity. We’re building toward a web where the default is social.
- By giving people the power to share, we’re making the world more transparent.
- When you give everyone a voice and give people power, the system usually ends up in a really good place. So, what we view our role as, is giving people that power.
Social Media Portfolio
The social media mogul has been followed by millions of young aspiring entrepreneurs on Facebook and Instagram. Follow him on:
Interesting Facts About Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg is a computer fanatic and developed Facebook along with his friends while pursuing his degree (psychology and computer science) at Harvard.
He was a programming freak, who started to code when he was 12. He developed an instant messaging program called ZuckNet for his dentist’s father so that he could know when patients arrived.
He created an MP3 player called Synapse, essentially an earlier version of Spotify or Pandora, along with his friend Adam D’Angelo (Founder of Quora). Microsoft tried to acquire the tech, but Zuckerberg eventually turned down the offer and landed up at Harvard having acquired a patent for the tech.
Several Multinational companies offered him jobs with immense salaries, but he rejected them and joined Harvard where he developed Facebook along with his friends.
Facebook’s logo is blue because Zuckerberg has red-green color blindness.
Several companies like NewsCorp, MySpace, Viacom, Yahoo, NBC, Microsoft (again), and Google were on the cards to acquire Facebook, but Zuckerberg turned down all of the offers.
Zuck first met his wife Dr. Priscilla Chan (who were now a couple and parents of two kids) in the queue for the bathroom at a fraternity party at Harvard.
Interestingly, he is on Twitter, but he has only tweeted 19 times since 2009. His last tweet was on 18 Jan 2012. Twitter id – @finkd
In 2016, he set a goal to run 365 miles during the course of the year, in order to stay fit. But, he met his goal midway through the summer indeed.
Mark Zuckerberg has a team of 12 members to manage his Facebook account.
The movie ‘The Social Network’ is based on his life.
Zuckerberg is a vegetarian since 2011 and said he would only eat meat if he has hunted down the animal himself.
His Hungarian Sheepdog ‘Beast’ has a Facebook page with more than 2 million likes. Obviously, his daughter Max is also a great fan of Beast. He once posted that her daughter’s first word was a dog.
You can see Zuckerberg wearing a grey T-shirt along with a pair of jeans and a Nike sneaker on any day of the week. When asked Zuckerberg said, “I really want to clear my life to make it so that I have to make as few decisions as possible about anything except how to best serve this community.”
In 2022, Zuckerberg took up training in both Mixed Martial Arts and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He competed in a BJJ tournament on May 6, 2023, and won both a silver and gold medal in gi and no gi, competing at white belt. On July 22, 2023, Zuckerberg was promoted to blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu by Dave Camarillo.