Mark Zuckerberg Facebook co-founder and CEO of Meta Platforms Photo by Anthony Quintano – Wikimedia
15 Remarkable Facts About Mark Zuckerberg
*Originally published by Beatrice W on April 2022 and Updated by Vanessa R on May 2023
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is an American computer programmer, media magnate, internet entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is the co-founder of the social media website Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms formerly known as Facebook, Inc.
Zuckerberg was born on 14th May 1984 in White Plains, New York. His parents are Edward Zuckerberg a dentist who runs his dental practice and his wife Karen who is a psychiatrist. He has three sisters Arielle, Donna, and Randi.
Zuckerberg met his wife Priscilla Chan at Harvard University when they were both students. They got married in May 2012. They have two daughters. Maxima Chan Zuckerberg was born in December 2015 and August Zuckerberg in August 2017.
The famous and vibrant CEO became the world’s youngest billionaire in 2007 at the age of 23. Time and Forbes magazines have listed him among the most influential and most powerful people in the world.
1. Computers Have Always Fascinated Him
Zuckerberg began using computers and writing software while in middle school. At the age of 12 and already programming computers, he created a messaging program called Zucknet. This messaging program was used by the family around the house and at his father’s clinic to communicate with the receptionist.
Mark went to Ardsley High School and then to Phillips Exeter Academy. He created Synapse while in high school. The program gathered information on users’ listening habits and created a playlist according to their taste in music. Because of this, AOL and Microsoft tried to recruit him but he turned them down.
2. Mark Dropped Out of Harvard University
Mark Zuckerberg in 2005. Photo By Elaine Chan and Priscilla Chan – Wikimedia Commons
After high school, he proceeded to Harvard University to study psychology and computer science. Mark created a program that he called CourseMatch. It allowed users to select classes that their friends were attending and also helped them form study groups.
Shortly after, he created the controversial short-lived Facemash that had students comparing two faces, picking and voting for the prettier one. The program would rank them according to the votes.
Harvard shut it down because it overwhelmed one of its networks switches preventing students from accessing the Internet. Students also complained that their photos were being used without permission. Zuckerberg gave a public apology for this.
Zuckerberg and his roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes created and launched Facebook from their dormitory room at Harvard University in 2004.
They later dropped out to concentrate on running Facebook a company that grew beyond their expectations. Mark received an honorary degree from Harvard University on 25th May 2017.
3. He Has Red/Green Colour Blindness
Mark Zuckerberg
Photo By Brian Solis – Wikimedia Commons
Zuckerberg suffers from red/green colour blindness. This means that the colour he can easily see is blue. This is why he picked the colour blue for Facebook.
4. The CEO That Works From a Shared Office
One would expect the CEO of Meta Platforms to have a large beautiful corner office with a view. That is not the case. What Zuckerberg has is a desk in the open space like the rest of the employees. There is a conference room nearby where he spends most of his time in meetings.
5. His Wardrobe is Simple
Zuckerberg wears a grey T-shirt, a hoodie, a pair of jeans, and sneakers every day of the week. He has several of these. When asked his reason for wearing the same thing every day, he said it saves him time in the morning. He wants to clear his life so that he makes as few decisions as possible about anything else but his work.
6. The Self Designed Wedding Ring
A Ruby Ring – Wikimedia Commons
Zuckerberg’s Chinese wife, Priscilla Chan, wears a modest ring. The ring was designed by her husband. It is a beautiful ruby with a diamond on each side.
Rubies have sentimental value, especially within the Asian culture. The precious stone widely represents passion and love. It is also a sign of wisdom and good fortune. It is held in high esteem in Asian countries.
7. New Year’s Resolutions Are Self Help Goals
At the beginning of every year, most people come up with resolutions to help them make positive changes in their lives. Zuckerberg does this too. He announces his challenge for the year on Facebook every January and strives to accomplish them all.
The challenges vary from reading more books to learning a foreign language, wearing a tie to work to running a mile daily. One year he resolved to only eat meat from animals that he had personally killed.
Unlike most people who ditch their resolutions by the end of February, he is so focused that gets to achieve these goals.
8. Beast the Dog Has a Facebook Page
A Puli Hungarian Sheepdog. Photo By Sannse – Wikimedia Commons
Mark and Priscilla have an eye-catching, giant-mop-looking, cute dog named Beast. It is a Puli, a type of Hungarian Sheepdog. Its fur twists and curls up distinctively and ends up looking like dreadlocks all over its body.
Beast has a Facebook page that has close to 2.5 million online followers. He is quite the popular dog.
9. His Salary is a Dollar Per Year
Mark Zuckerberg is the lowest-paid employee at his company. He gets a salary of $1 per year. The fact that full-time employees must be paid some sort of wage as compensation for their input, is the reason why he gets the dollar.
The $1 salary protects him from specific tax liabilities while ensuring that he earns a performance-based salary as opposed to the company and shareholders just cutting him a check.
10. Mark is Multi-lingual
Zuckerberg is a genius who is fluent in 6 languages. He can read and write English, French, Hebrew, Latin, Ancient Greek, and Mandarin. He took the initiative to learn Mandarin to enable him to communicate with his Chinese in-laws.
Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan. Founders of Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Photo By Lukasz Porwol – Wikimedia
Mark Zuckerberg has created other programs but Facebook remains the most popular and profitable one. He also signed ‘The Giving Pledge’ alongside Bill Gates and investor Warren Buffett. They pledged to donate to charity at least half of their wealth throughout their lives.
Mark and Priscilla started the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative a philanthropic organization that focuses on promoting equality in areas such as health, education, scientific research, and energy. Housing affordability, criminal justice reform, and immigration reform are also on the initiative’s to-do list.
11. In 2021, Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth is estimated to be $115.6 billion
Elon Musk currently holds the top rank on Forbes’ list of billionaires, according to his estimated net worth of $274.4 billion. Following with net worths above $125 billion each are Larry Page of Google, Bernard Arnault of Louis Vuitton, Bill Gates of Microsoft, and Jeff Bezos of Amazon. Even though he is now at number eight, Zuckerberg made it to the top 10. Actually, the CEO of Facebook reached the third spot in 2020, but afterwards…
12. Each shirt worn by Mark Zuckerberg costs between $300 and $400
Anthony Quintano from Honolulu, HI, United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
One of Brunello Cucinelli’s custom creations is the infamous grey t-shirt worn by Mark Zuckerberg. Although it might not seem very remarkable, we believe that what matters is how it feels rather than how it looks.
The 100% mercerized combed cotton used to make the t-shirts in Italy gives them an extra-soft feel. Each one is double-stitched and 180g/m2, or 20% more than the industry average, in weight. Let’s say it’s a premium shirt.
13. Mark Zuckerberg has three kids
In 2003, Mark and Priscilla Chan connected at a fraternity party. Over ten years later, the couple were married, and they are currently raising their three children.
The fact that Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla work together and thrive as a couple is one of the most important facts about him. In addition to working together on Facebook, they also co-direct the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI). They constantly make time for one another, and they do their best not to spoil their kids by assigning them jobs and sending them to work at the office. The couple tries to keep things as normal as they can.
14. $3.4 billion will be spent by the CZI to improve human health
Presidencia de la República Mexicana, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Contrary to what the countless scandals surrounding Facebook may imply, the person who created the network is highly serious about social responsibility. It’s arguably one of the most controversial Mark Zuckerberg facts, but the figures speak for themselves: He has undoubtedly committed billions to improving human existence.
To give one example, the CZI announced in early December 2021 that it will donate $500 million to Harvard University for the establishment of an institute for artificial intelligence.
15. Zuckerberg jogged more than 365 miles in 2016
Mark Zuckerberg enjoys working out, which is a fun fact about him that you probably didn’t know. He runs at least three times every week since staying in shape is really important to him.
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