Mark Zuckberberg is an American technology investor, executive, and entrepreneur known for co-founding and leading the Facebook and Meta Platforms. He currently holds the position as the CEO and Chairman of Meta (former Facebook Inc). Facebook is considered a revolutionary invention of Zuckerberg, who thought of the idea and helped launch it with his roommates while attending Harvard University. The platform changed the way people communicate online and is seen as the flagship of the social media industry.
The company made Zuckerberg one of the youngest billionaires in the history of the United States. The New York native also controls and manages other social media platforms, including Instagram and Twitch live-stream sharing applications. Facebook has been at the center of political controversy over the platforming and censoring of certain groups by both the left and the right. Following the riot at the Capitol Building, Facebook suspended then-President Donald Trump's account on the site. The application is seen as a major avenue for sharing news and campaign information with a mass audience of potential voters in local, state, and national elections.
Zuckerberg co-founded Facebook with Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes in February 2004. Originally, the application was only available for college students at universities, but after successfully receiving substantial investments, it grew to 1 billion users worldwide by 2012. Many outlets estimate that Zuckerberg's current net worth is estimated to be over $40 billion since he took the company public in May 2012.
Zuckerberg is known not only for his wealth and ingenuity regarding Facebook's creation but also for the power he holds as the leader of the largest social media corporation in the world. The billionaire technology executive is married to Priscilla Chan, who he met during his sophomore year of college. The couple began dating in 2004 and married in May 2012 on Zuckerberg's estate. The couple share two children.
