Profile
Mark Zuckerberg: The Founder of Facebook and Meta
American technology entrepreneur, born on 14 May 1984
Mark Zuckerberg was born on 14 May 1984 in White Plains, New York, and began writing software as a child. At Harvard University in 2004, he launched a website for students that became Facebook.
He left Harvard to build the company, which grew from a campus network into a global platform with billions of users. Facebook bought Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014, and went public in 2012.
In 2021 he renamed the company Meta, focusing on virtual reality and later artificial intelligence. With his wife, Priscilla Chan, he founded the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which funds science and education projects.
Career highlights
- 1984Born in White Plains, New York
- 2004Launches Facebook: from his Harvard dormitory
- 2010The Social Network: film dramatises Facebook's founding
- 2012Buys Instagram: and takes Facebook public
- 2014Buys WhatsApp: in a deal worth around $19 billion
- 2015Chan Zuckerberg Initiative: founded with Priscilla Chan
- 2018Testifies to Congress: after the Cambridge Analytica scandal
- 2021Renames company Meta: betting on virtual worlds
Did you know?He has said that one of his personal challenges was to learn Mandarin, and he later gave a question-and-answer session in Beijing in the language.
