mark zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg

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This article's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (April 2013)
Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg at the 37th G8 Summit in Deauville 018 v1.jpg
Zuckerberg at the 37th G8 summit in 2011.
Born Mark Elliot Zuckerberg
May 14, 1984 (age 29)[1]
White Plains, New York, US
Residence Palo Alto, California, US[2]
Nationality American
Ethnicity White
Alma mater Harvard College (dropped out)
Occupation Chairman & CEO of Facebook, Inc.
Years active 2004–present
Known for Co-founding Facebook in 2004;
world's 2nd youngest self-made billionaire (2012)[3]
Salary US$ 1[4]
Net worth Increase US$ 16.8 billion (2013)[5][6]
Religion Jewish atheism
Spouse(s) Priscilla Chan (m. 2012)
Relatives Randi, Donna and Arielle
(sisters)
Awards Time Person of the Year 2010
Website
Facebook.com/Zuck
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (born May 14, 1984) is an American computer programmer and internet entrepreneur. He is best known as one of five co-founders of the social networking website Facebook. As of April 2013, Zuckerberg is the chairman and chief executive of Facebook, Inc.[5][7] and in 2013 his personal wealth was estimated to be US$16.8 billion.[8]

Together with his college roommates and fellow Harvard University students Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes, Zuckerberg launched Facebook from Harvard's dormitory rooms.[9] The group then introduced Facebook onto other campuses nationwide and moved to Palo Alto, California, United States (U.S.) shortly afterwards. In 2007, at the age of 23, Zuckerberg became a billionaire as a result of Facebook[10] and the number of Facebook users worldwide reached a total of one billion in 2012. Zuckerberg was involved in various legal disputes that were initiated by others in the group, who claimed a share of the company based upon their involvement during the development phase of Facebook.[11]

Since 2010, Time magazine has named Zuckerberg among the 100 wealthiest and most influential people in the world as a part of its Person of the Year distinction.[12][13][14] In 2011, Zuckerberg ranked first on the list of the "Most Influential Jews in the World" by The Jerusalem Post and has since consistently topped the list every year as of 2013.[15][16] Zuckerberg was played by actor Jesse Eisenberg in the 2010 film The Social Network, in which the rise of Facebook is portrayed.[17]

Politics

On February 13, 2013, Zuckerberg hosted his first ever fundraising event for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Zuckerberg's particular interest on this occasion was education reform, and Christie's education reform work focused on teachers unions and the expansion of charter schools.[110][111] In December 2012, Zuckerberg donated 18 million shares to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, a community organization that includes education in its list of grant-making areas.[112][113]

On April 11, 2013, Zuckerberg led the launch of a 501(c)(4) lobbying group called FWD.us. The founders and contributors to the group were primarily Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and investors, and its president was Joe Green, a close friend of Zuckerberg.[114][115][116][117] The goals of the group include immigration reform, improving the state of education in the US, and enabling more technological breakthroughs that benefit the public,[118][119] yet it has also been criticized for financing ads advocating a variety of oil and gas development initiatives, including drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the Keystone XL pipeline.[120]

A media report on June 20, 2013 revealed that Zuckerberg actively engaged with Facebook users on his own profile page after the online publication of a FWD.us video. In response to a claim that the FWD.us organization is "just about tech wanting to hire more people", the Internet entrepreneur replied: "The bigger problem we’re trying to address is ensuring the 11 million undocumented folks living in this country now and similar folks in the future are treated fairly."[121]

In June 2013, Zuckerberg joined Facebook employees in a company float as part of the annual San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Celebration. The company first participated in the event in 2011, with 70 employees, and this number increased to 700 for the 2013 march. The 2013 pride celebration was especially significant, as it followed a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that deemed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional.[122][123]

Personal life
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Marriage

At a party put on by his fraternity during his sophomore year, Zuckerberg met Priscilla Chan, a fellow student who he began dating in 2003. Chan is the child of a Chinese-Vietnamese refugee, who arrived in the U.S. after the Fall of Saigon.[124] She was born in Braintree, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, and is a 2003 graduate of Quincy High School.[125][126] In September 2010, Zuckerberg invited Chan, by then a medical student at the University of California, San Francisco,[127] to move into his rented Palo Alto house.[2][128] Zuckerberg studied Mandarin Chinese in preparation for the couple's visit to the People's Republic of China in December 2010.[129][130]

On May 19, 2012, Zuckerberg and Chan married in Zuckerberg's backyard in a celebration also marking her graduation from medical school.[131][132][133] Chan has a medical degree, and, according to some sources, is planning to begin interning and residencing towards becoming a pediatrician in 2012 or is a pediatrician currently.[134][135]

Interests

On Zuckerberg's Facebook page, he listed his personal interests as "openness, making things that help people connect and share what's important to them, revolutions, information flow, minimalism".[136] Zuckerberg sees blue best because of red–green color blindness; blue is also Facebook's dominant color.[137] Zuckerberg has been a vegetarian since 2011.[138]