Mark
Zuckerberg

Born Mark Elliot Zuckerberg on May 14, 1984, in White Plains, New York, to dentist Edward Zuckerberg and psychiatrist Karen Kempner-Zuckerberg in a Reform Jewish family; raised in the village of Dobbs Ferry, New York, as the second of four children with sisters Randi, Donna, and Arielle; grew up in a supportive, intellectually stimulating middle-class household that encouraged curiosity and achievement.

Early childhood in Dobbs Ferry; family emphasized education and family bonding; young Mark showed early signs of high intelligence and a reserved, focused personality in a stable home environment.

Continued family life in Dobbs Ferry; parents fostered analytical thinking through games, books, and discussions; began displaying strong interest in patterns and problem-solving.

Ongoing early development; exposure to father's dental office computers sparked initial fascination with technology; family home provided enriching environment with access to early personal computers.

Family life centered on education and activities; demonstrated precocious abilities in math and logic; parents supported hands-on learning and intellectual exploration.

Attended local elementary school in Dobbs Ferry; excelled academically; began experimenting with basic programming concepts introduced by father.

Continued elementary education; deepened interest in computers through family access; read widely and explored science and technology topics.

Ongoing schooling; family encouraged competitive activities like fencing and classics studies; built foundational skills in logical thinking.

Intensified self-directed learning with computers; spent time tinkering with hardware and simple software in father's office setup.

Continued elementary years; developed early programming skills; family supported hobbies including astronomy and mythology.

Attended Ardsley High School initially; showed aptitude in science and math; explored creative projects blending technology and classical interests.

Created ZuckNet, a messaging system using Atari BASIC to connect family home computers with father's dental office; demonstrated early entrepreneurial and programming talent.

Transferred to prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy boarding school; captained fencing team; developed Synapse Media Player, an AI-based music recommendation program that attracted media attention and offers from AOL and Microsoft (declined).

Ongoing studies at Phillips Exeter; excelled in classics, fencing, and programming; deepened interest in psychology and human connections that later influenced social networking ideas.

Continued at Exeter; participated in academic competitions; built reputation as a programming prodigy among peers.

Deepened involvement in technology projects; explored literature and history alongside coding.

Ongoing high school leadership in fencing; prepared for college applications with strong academic record.

Senior year at Phillips Exeter; graduated with honors; accepted to Harvard University for psychology and computer science.

Enrolled at Harvard University; created CourseMatch to help students select classes based on peers' choices; joined Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity.

Met future wife Priscilla Chan at a fraternity party; created controversial Facemash site ranking student attractiveness; began developing ideas inspired by Harvard's student directory.

Launched TheFacebook on February 4 with roommates Dustin Moskovitz, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, and Chris Hughes; rapidly expanded to other universities; dropped out of Harvard to focus full-time; moved operations to Palo Alto, California; received $500,000 investment from Peter Thiel.

Facebook grew exponentially; faced early lawsuits from Harvard classmates over idea origins; settled disputes while scaling the platform internationally.

Continued rapid company growth; rejected major buyout offers including from Yahoo; focused on user experience and global expansion.

Became world's youngest self-made billionaire; named to MIT TR35 innovators list; settled Winklevoss lawsuit; hosted hackathons emphasizing innovation culture.

Facebook reached massive user milestones; signed Giving Pledge to donate majority wealth; navigated privacy debates and regulatory scrutiny.

Ongoing leadership amid dot-com era reflections; featured in media profiles; company valuation surged.

Facebook hit 500 million users; portrayed in film The Social Network; donated $100 million to Newark schools; named Time Person of the Year.

Continued global expansion; spoke at events on technology's societal impact; deepened relationship with Priscilla Chan.

Married Priscilla Chan on May 19 in Palo Alto; took Facebook public in May IPO; donated shares worth nearly $1 billion to philanthropy.

Launched advocacy group FWD.us for immigration and education reform; focused on mobile transition and Internet.org for global connectivity.

Acquired Oculus VR for metaverse vision; purchased Hawaii land; spoke Mandarin in public appearances.

Pledged 99% of Facebook shares to Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI); welcomed first daughter Maxima (Max) Chan Zuckerberg in December; donated to Ebola response.

CZI launched major biohub investments; toured U.S. states; welcomed second daughter August in August.

Received honorary Harvard degree; advocated for universal basic income and renewable energy; ongoing family life and philanthropy.

Testified before Congress on Cambridge Analytica scandal; apologized for data misuse; focused on platform safety improvements.

Welcomed third daughter Aurelia in March; began Brazilian jiu-jitsu training; competed in first BJJ tournament winning medals.

Navigated COVID-19 response with donations and misinformation policies; integrated messaging across apps; testified on content moderation.

Rebranded company to Meta focusing on metaverse; testified on child safety; expanded Hawaii estate.

Intensified martial arts training; promoted to BJJ blue belt; faced metaverse investment scrutiny amid stock declines.

Underwent ACL surgery after training injury; launched Threads to compete with Twitter; focused on efficiency layoffs and AI development.

Adopted new personal style with streetwear and gold chains; took delivery of superyacht Launchpad; dined with political figures; open-sourced Llama AI models; net worth surged to second-richest globally.

Announced removal of third-party fact-checking programs on platforms; refocused CZI philanthropy on biology and AI; faced criticism over yacht emissions and neighbor disputes (gifted noise-canceling headphones); donated to political causes including Trump inaugural fund; positioned Meta strongly in AI race with new models and glasses; net worth exceeded $220 billion amid ongoing family life in Palo Alto with Priscilla and three daughters.