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What inspired Mark Zuckerberg to create Facebook?

Why did Facebook acquire Instagram in 2012?

What are Zuckerberg’s key management strategies?

How did Zuckerberg meet his wife, Priscilla Chan?

From being an exceptional student with exemplary talent forecasting a promising future, to actually becoming one of the most successful entrepreneurs in history, Mark Zuckerberg has come a long way. Currently, Co-Founder of Meta platform Inc. (formerly named Facebook Inc.), he is one of the richest billionaires on Earth.

Mark Zuckerberg also shares the title of Co-Founder of the solar sail spacecraft development project- Breakthrough Starshot. He serves as one of its board members. But these titles don’t do justice to what influence he has over the population. He has always proved to be an inspiration to millions when he became the world’s youngest self-made billionaire back in 2007. The success story of Mark Zuckerberg is worth sharing.

Date of Birth	14 May 1984
Age	40 years
Nationality	American
Spouse	Priscilla Chan
Children	3 (Maxima, August & Aurelia)

Education

Mark had an exceptional academic record beginning at Ardsley High School in New York. It was followed by a transfer to the private Phillips Exeter Academy along with a flourishing interest in subjects like Astronomy, Classical Studies, Mathematics, and Physics.

With a great college application consisting of being fluent in Ancient Greek, French, Hebrew and Latin, Zuckerberg attended the prestigious Harvard University, where he launched Facebook. According to Zuckerberg, this idea of Facebook was inspired by his prep school where he had a student directory, “The Photo Address Book” to which students referred as “The Facebook”.

Gradually, Facebook started off as just a “Harvard thing”. Later, Mark decided to spread its reach to other schools.

From Dormitory to 500-Million-Mark

Launching Facebook from his Harvard University dormitory room, Zuckerberg along with his friends moved to California to set up their new office. During the growth of their business, they turned down multiple offers by major corporations to buy the company.

In an interview, Mark explained “It’s not because of the amount of money. For me and my colleagues, the most important thing is that we create an open information flow for people. Having media corporations owned by conglomerates is just not an attractive idea to me.”

And their small company eventually attained its glorious outcome. On July 21, 2010, Zuckerberg reported that the company reached the 500 million user mark.

Management Tips by Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg says, “The biggest risk is not taking any risk… In a world that is changing quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.”

It is not easy to manage multiple businesses and companies without a proper strategy. The way Mark Zuckerberg has handled his company to take it to great heights showcases that he surely has a brilliant management strategy.

Mark Zuckerberg has shared some management tips:

1. Not chained to a desk

Zuckerberg has said he doesn’t spend more than 50 to 60 hours a week in the office. However, he spends a lot of time thinking about new ideas.

2. Focus on the mission

Zuckerberg believes in turning values into a business and focusing on bringing the change one wants to see.’

3. Eliminate small decisions

He believes that making a bunch of small decisions throughout the day can take up too much energy. He says, “I really want to clear my life so that I have to make as few decisions as possible, other than how to best serve this community.”

4. More action less reaction

He once said, that there are enough things that come up during the day that one can use to fill up their entire day reacting to them. Of course, one has to be responsive, but it’s important to know what one wants to accomplish each day.

5. Accept mistakes

It is a part of his office that his employees are open to correct his mistakes.“I like openness. It’s a little embarrassing, but it’s good to have.”

Takeover of Instagram by Mark Zuckerberg

In 2012, Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion, a shocking sum at that time for a company with 13 employees. Contributing up to $20 billion to Facebook’s annual revenue, Instagram currently has over one billion users.

Facebook saw Instagram as a threat that could potentially scrap business away from Facebook. To avoid the anticipated competition, Facebook bought it.

Around late February 2012, Zuckerberg emailed his Chief Financial Officer to set movement on the idea of buying smaller companies that could be future competitors including Instagram. Instagram was widely famous in Silicon Valley and Twitter was interested in buying the company but Instagram Co-Founder Kevin Systrom declined the offer and Facebook proposed its offer to acquire the company and its 13 employees. The deal to acquire the application was closed at $1 billion in cash and stock.

Metaverse

The billionaire announced on October 28, 2021, that his company will now be known as Meta Platforms. The new platform comprises apps and technologies under one new brand. However, it does not change anything for Instagram or Whatsapp users.

While announcing the new brand, Zuckerberg said, “Today we are seen as a social media company, but in our DNA we are a company that builds technology to connect people, and the metaverse is the next frontier just like social networking was when we got started.”

“Our apps and their brands aren’t changing either. We’re still the company that designs technology around people.”

Zuckerberg wants Facebook to be known as a technology company and not only as a social media company. He also revealed his plans to include crypto and NFT on its platform without compromising the privacy of the users.

Personal Life

Born in White Plains, New York, Mark Zuckerberg was raised in a Jewish household along with his three sisters and his parents. He is 40 years old (as of May 2024). Both of his parents belonged to Medical backgrounds with his father being a Dentist and his mother being a Psychiatrist.

As his grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Austria, Germany, and Poland, growing up he had Jewish values thoroughly instilled in him. For a while, he went on declaring himself an atheist but subsequently revised his values.

Other than turning his life around during his college period by introducing Facebook, he had a vital addition to his life that later flourished. He met his future wife Priscilla Chan who was a student at Harvard University along with him. They started dating in 2003. After dating for nearly a decade they got married in 2012 along with the celebration of Chan’s graduation from her medical school.

After going through three miscarriages, the couple finally had their first daughter (Maxima Chan Zuckerberg) on December 1, 2015. Later on, they had another addition of a second daughter (August Chan Zuckerberg) to their family in August 2017. In September 2022, they welcomed their third daughter, Aurelia Chan Zuckerberg.

Also Read: Bernard Arnault: The Pope Of The Fashion Industry

Net Worth of Mark Zuckerberg

Zuckerberg has a net worth of $ 163.4 billion as of May 2024. It makes him one of the richest billionaires in the world according to the Forbes Billionaire Index. In February 2022, Mark lost $29 billion in net worth as the stock of the company witnessed a record decline of 26 per cent, which has eroded almost $200 billion.

Despite being one of the richest billionaires in the world, he leads a low-key lifestyle with his wife Priscilla Chan and their three young daughters. When it comes to cars, he prefers relatively expensive cars. He seems to spend most of his money on real estate. Mark owns property in Palo Alto, San Francisco, Hawaii, and Lake Tahoe.

Zuckerberg and Priscilla are currently spending $3 billion in an attempt to end, cure or manage all diseases by 2100.

Interesting Facts about Mark Zuckerberg

Did you know, that at the age of 12 Mark built a messaging tool for his father called, ‘Zucknet’ that improved communication for dentists?
He knows 6 languages including English, Hebrew, French, Latin, Greek, and Mandarin Chinese.
Mark Zuckerberg is a registered organ donor.
He has red and green colour blindness. Facebook colour’s blue is the colour, he sees best.
Mark and his wife Priscilla have established the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. It aims to advance education, science, and community development.
Before Facebook, he created CourseMatch for Harvard students, helping them pick out classes based on which classes their friends are enrolled in.

To Sum It Up

Mark Zuckerberg is a man whose achievements are not only his accomplishments but those of the whole generation.

His casual idea of connecting social people that started merely on a small scale has now transformed into the biggest social platform all over the world that connects billions of people no matter how much the distance is, what the time is, or how you lost contact with your once loved acquaintances. Facebook gentrified the modes of communications in the best way possible and people owe Mark Zuckerberg highly for this modification.

Frequently Asked Questions

At what age did Mark Zuckerberg become a billionaire?

Mark Zuckerberg became a billionaire at the age of 23.

At what age did Mark Zuckerberg start Facebook?

Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook at the age of 19.

What is Mark Zuckerberg’s IQ?

Mark Zuckerberg’s IQ is 152.

Who is the current CEO of Instagram?

Adam Mosseri is the current CEO of Instagram.

What does Meta do?

Meta builds technologies that help people connect, find communities and grow businesses.

Why is Facebook called Meta?

He has linked the new name with his strategic plans of creating a metaverse. It is a world in which consumers spend increasing parts of their lives based on AI and virtual reality (VR) technology.