A 21st CENTURY PRODIGY: MARK ZUCKERBERG
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg a.k.a the world’s youngest billionaire is one of the most hyped billionaires in the world. He co-founded, and is currently the CEO of the social networking site FACEBOOK. The net worth of 31 year old prodigy is a staggering amount of 41.2 billion dollars as of 8/14/15.
Early life
Zuckerberg was born on May 14, 1984, in White Plains, New York to a well educated family. He has 3 siblings. Mark developed an interest in computers at an early age, at the age of 12 he created a messaging program using Atari BASIC that he called “zucknet”. The Zuckerberg family used the zucknet to communicate within the house. Zuckerberg was diligent and excelled in every discipline in his elementary school. Later at his high school Phillips Exeter Academy, he continued to work on developing new programs. Several companies including Microsoft and AOL made an offer to buy a music software SYNAPSE that he created in high school but he declined it. His exceptionally good performance landed him in the HARVARD UNIVERSITY.
Harvard University: the birthplace of the FACEBOOK
During his time at Harvard, Zuckerberg developed an image of the campus software developer. During his sophomore year in college, he created a program called CourseMatch, which helped students to choose their classes based on course selection of other users. He also invented Facemash, which made comparisons among the pictures of the students, allowing its users to vote on which was more attractive. But sadly, he was forced to shut the site down because of its controversial nature. Nonetheless, facemash was extremely popular among its users, which triggered him to reconsider the program. He turned the simple site into a personal directory for Harvard students, which enabled its users to create their own profiles and network with their peers at the college. It was a huge success and thus, spread out to other colleges and later schools in the USA.
Eventually, Facebook grew into the site as we know it today and is still growing into something more advanced at every stage.
Personal life and philanthropic causes
On May 19, 2012, Mark Zuckerberg married his college sweetheart Priscilla Chan, and is about to become a father very soon.
Zuckerberg has funded to a variety of philanthropic causes. He donated 100 million dollars to save the failing Newark Public Schools system in New Jersey. He also signed the “Giving Pledge” promising to donate at least 50 percent of his wealth to charity over the course of his lifetime.
Awards and Achievements
Mark Zuckerberg was named the ‘Person of the Year’ in 2010, by the Times Magazine. The ‘Jerusalem Post’, an Israeli newspaper, named him one of the most influential Jews.
He was called the best young businessman in the world 2011 by the Fortune Magazine.
With his ever increasing inventions and innovations, Mark Zuckerberg continues to beguile us.
