Who Is Mark Zuckerberg? How Did He Start Facebook? [Know All Here]

Mark Zuckerberg is a self-taught computer programmer and co-founder, chair, and chief executive officer of Meta (META), formerly known as Facebook. Originally named Facemash, Zuckerberg founded the social networking site in his Harvard University dorm room in 2004 along with Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes, and Eduardo Saverin.

According to Bloomberg, Zuckerberg’s net worth as of June 10, 2022, was about $68.2 billion.1

Notable Accomplishments

Facebook IPO and Acquisitions

In mid-2005, Facebook raised $12.7 million in venture capital and expanded access to hundreds of universities and high schools. One year later, the social network opened to the general public, and Yahoo! offered $1 billion to buy the company—a bid that was swiftly rejected by Zuckerberg.56

Wealth and Philanthropy

Zuckerberg has made headlines for his philanthropy, including his 2010 donation of $100 million to help schools in Newark, N.J. In 2014, the publication Philanthropy ranked Zuckerberg and Chan the most generous American donors of the previous year, after they donated 18 million shares of Facebook stock to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, in Mountain View, Calif.11

On Dec. 1, 2015, Zuckerberg and Chan published a letter to their daughter Max, in which they announced the creation of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative “to join people across the world to advance human potential and promote equality for all children in the next generation.”12

In the post, Zuckerberg and Chan said the “initial areas of focus will be personalized learning, curing disease, connecting people, and building strong communities” and that “we will give 99% of our Facebook shares—currently about $45 billion—during our lives to advance this mission.”12

Controversy and Cambridge Analytica

Meta has been accused, nearly since its inception, of collecting and selling the personal data, posts, and instant messages of its users. These accusations mounted shortly after the 2016 U.S. Presidential elections, with some alleging that U.S. voters had been under the influence of targeted ads financed by Russia.

In March 2018, media outlets including The New York Times and The Observer reported that U.K.-based political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica had paid an outside researcher to collect data on 50 million Facebook users without their permission. The New York Times reported that Cambridge Analytica’s goal was to use the data for its trademark “psychographic modeling,” with the aim of “reading voters’ minds” and potentially influencing the outcome of elections.

In April 2018, Facebook disclosed that the information of 87 million users had been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica, and not the 50 million as earlier reported.14

Later that month, Zuckerberg appeared on Capitol Hill to testify before House and Senate committees about Facebook’s use of consumer data. In prepared remarks before the Senate, Zuckerberg noted that Facebook had been beneficial in connecting people during the #MeToo movement and various disasters.

How Does Facebook Make Money?