Running head: MARK ZUCKERBERG

Mark Zuckerberg
Worlds largest social network, Facebook, was co-founded by Mark Zuckerberg out of his
college dorm room. He is the chairman and CEO of Facebook, Inc. and one of the worlds
youngest billionaire. He was born in New York on May 14th, 1984. His personal wealth, as of Sep
13th 2015, is estimated to be $40.3 billion (Forbes, 2015). Since January 1, 2013, Zuckerberg
receives annual base salary of $1 as CEO of Facebook and he no longer receives annual bonus
compensation under Facebook, Inc. Bonus Plan (Facebook, Inc., 2013).
Zuckerberg was born in a well-educated family and developed an interest in computers at
an early age. He developed a messaging program he named Zucknet at the age of 12 years
(Biography.com, n.d.). Zucknet was used by his father in his dental office and his family
members at home to communicate with each other. He used to create lots of games for fun with
his friends. He was a born computer genius. Apart from computers he was also talented in
fencing and was the captain of schools team. He was even excellent in literature. He continued
working on developing new programs and developed music software when he was still a
teenager which AOL and Microsoft expressed an interest in buying but was declined.
In 2002, Zuckerberg enrolled at Harvard University where he started writing code for the
launch of new website and on February 4, 2004 Facebook was launched that allowed users to
create profiles, upload their pictures and communicate with others. Initially it was just for
Harvard then it was spread to other schools and eventually all around the world. After the launch
of Facebook for Harvard, Zuckerberg thought like there should be a similar thing for the whole
world but he didnt know that it would be him who would be providing Facebook for the whole
world. He dropped out of Harvard and moved the company to Silicon Valley.

2
MARK ZUCKERBERG
Within a short span of time facebook became so much popular around the globe that there
were more than 5.5 million users by the end of December 2005. As of June 2015, monthly users
of Facebook have reached 1.49 billion. Currently, Zuckerberg is the 8th richest person in the
world (Forbes, 2015). Zuckerberg has come a long way in a short period of time because he
always did the extraordinary thing and he was relentlessly focused on the long term future of the
company (Fortune.com, n.d.). Facebook now has more than 10,000 employees in 48 offices
around the world. Thats why he is recognized as a great leader. As a leader he modeled the way
for others and showed how things are to be done. He is an inspiration to a lot of people including
me. I am personally very much inspired by the things he has done. His initiative to launch
Internet.org in 17 countries that provide basic internet service to more than one billion people for
free using solar powered advanced flying drones has really touched me (Forbes, 2015). I am
constantly in touch with the news related to Mark Zuckerberg through his official facebook page.
And I really love the fact, how much he and his wife are involved in helping people get
education, get basic internet facility by donating millions to fund variety of philanthropic causes.
By developing Facebook, Zuckerberg has already challenged the process as it was the
first of its kind. Though other social networking sites like twitter and myspace were already there
but facebook came with new and different features. Theres no doubt he is a farsighted man and
he has his clear visions. The way he started facebook with the help of his friends by sharing his
visions and making them believe in his visions, shows his ability to inspire the shared vision.
Facebook has acquired more than 40 companies with some of the largest acquisition like
WhatsApp, Instagram and Oculus VR. Zuckerberg has stated that they buy companies to get
excellent people and not just the company which shows how much he is close to his people. He
is constantly in touch with his employees and has always been an inspiration in his team. His

3
MARK ZUCKERBERG
team members know that he is a great leader and encourages everyone to work together to meet
the common goals. He enables other to act in the team and provide their valuable inputs.
Similarly, he has encouraged the hearts of so many of his employees.
He is considered a credible leader as the world has seen him rise and become one of the
youngest billionaire. His way of doing things and constantly getting involved in social activities
promoting high-tech personalized education and donating in the scholarship fund for
undocumented immigrants are some of his contributions that deserves our appreciation. He is
always learning new things and constantly trying his best to improve himself. Thats what great
leaders do; they never stop learning and never stop improving themselves.
I dont think Zuckerberg would be as effective in any other activity as he is a born
computer genius and programming has always been his passion. He is best in this field. Though
managing a company was not easy for him in the beginning but with the help of his friends,
teammates and even experts, he has learned to do it. He hasnt stopped there. He is still moving
ahead and climbing up & up. He knows where he is going. He has set his visions and working
hard to meet those. He is not working for money but for a better future that the emerging
technologies will be able to provide us.

4
MARK ZUCKERBERG

References:
Biography.com. (n.d.). Mark Zuckerberg - Computer Programmer, Philanthropist. Retrieved
September 2015, from Biography.com: http://www.biography.com/people/markzuckerberg-507402
Facebook, Inc. (2013). Facebook, Inc. Proxy Statement. Retrieved September 2015, from United
States Security and Exchange Commission:
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1326801/000119312513178090/d493645ddef14
a.htm
Forbes. (2015). Mark Zuckerberg - Forbes. Retrieved September 2015, from Forbes:
http://www.forbes.com/profile/mark-zuckerberg/
Fortune.com. (n.d.). World's Greatest Leaders. Retrieved September 2015, from Fortune.com:
http://fortune.com/worlds-greatest-leaders/mark-zuckerberg-25/