Mark Zuckerberg @ 36: He Changed The World

By Chuks Ekpeneru

It is normally the crave of billionaires to espouse class distinction to separate people across income. But Mark Zuckerberg has lived and made his billions joining and connecting people across the various divides.

Indeed, the impact of Facebook in social interaction cannot be overemphasized.

Mark Zuckerberg was born on May 14, 1984, in White Plains, New York, into a comfortable, well-educated family. He was raised in the nearby village of Dobbs Ferry.

Zuckerberg’s father, Edward Zuckerberg, ran a dental practice attached to the family’s home. His mother, Karen, worked as a psychiatrist before the birth of the couple’s four children — Mark, Randi, Donna and Arielle.

Zuckerberg developed an interest in computers at an early age; when he was about 12.

He began using computers and writing software in middle school. His father taught him Atari BASIC Programming in the 1990s, and later hired software developer David Newman to tutor him privately.

When Mark Zuckerberg and his college roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes launched Facebook in his dormitory room on February 4, 2004, the idea was originally to select college campuses. It expanded rapidly and eventually beyond colleges.

They started Facebook for students to match names with photos of classmates.

He serves as Facebook Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and controlling shareholder. He also co-founded and is a board member of the solar sail spacecraft development project Breakthrough Starshot.

He took Facebook public in May 2012 and still owns about 15% of the stock.

In December 2015, Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, pledged to give away 99% of their Facebook stake over their lifetimes.

As of Jan. 30, 2020, Facebook has a market cap of $598 billion. Zuckerberg owns over 375 million Facebook shares and holds 60% of voting rights in the company.

He had a net worth of $78 billion as of Jan. 29, 2020.

When it comes to influencing, Zuckerberg has signed the Giving Pledge, which means he will donate at least 50% of his net worth to philanthropic causes before he dies. In 2010, for example, he donated more than $100 million to save the Newark school system in New Jersey.

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