Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg is the cofounder and CEO of Meta Platforms and the creator of Facebook, the social media platform that made him one of the most recognizable figures in tech. Zuckerberg grew up in Dobbs Ferry, New York, alongside his three sisters. He developed an interest in computers at an early age and attended Phillips Exeter Academy. He enrolled at Harvard University in 2002 to study computer science and psychology but left before graduating. Harvard later awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 2017.

While at Harvard, Zuckerberg created Facemash before launching Facebook from his dorm in February 2004 with fellow students Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. Facebook quickly expanded beyond Harvard and became a global social network. Zuckerberg later oversaw the company’s expansion into Instagram and WhatsApp under Meta. In 2010, he was named TIME’s Person of the Year and in 2016 received the first Axel Springer Award.

Zuckerberg met pediatrician Priscilla Chan at Harvard in 2003. They began dating that year and married in a backyard ceremony in May 2012. The couple have three daughters: Maxima (born in 2015), August (born in 2017) and Aurelia (born in 2023).