Home Notifications Newsletters Next Share

The Fabulous Life Of Billionaire Mark Zuckerberghttps://www.businessinsider.in/the-fabulous-life-of-billionaire-mark-zuckerberg/mark-zuckerberg-was-born-on-may-14-1984-in-white-plains-ny-he-grew-up-with-his-three-siblings-in-the-nearby-town-dobbs-ferry-at-the-age-of-12-zuckerberg-used-atari-basic-to-create-a-messaging-program-his-dad-used-in-his-dental-office-/slidelist/39386791.cms2021-07-26T12:48:29+05:30

The Fabulous Life Of Billionaire Mark Zuckerberg

Jul 26, 2021, 12:48 IST

Mark Zuckerberg was born on May 14, 1984, in White Plains, NY. He grew up with his three siblings in the nearby town, Dobbs Ferry. At the age of 12, Zuckerberg used Atari BASIC to create a messaging program his dad used in his dental office.

Zuckerberg went to Phillips Exeter Academy, an exclusive preparatory school in New Hampshire. While still in high school, he created an early music streaming platform, which AOL and Microsoft showed interest in, but were rebuffed by young Zuck.

Zuckerberg enrolled in Harvard University in 2002, where he quickly became known for his developer skills. After his sophomore year, he decided to drop out and focus on "The Facebook," which he had been running out of his dormroom.

Before dropping out, Zuckerberg met his now-wife, Priscilla Chan. Chan told "Today's" Savannah Guthrie that they met at a frat party. "On our first date, he told me that he'd rather go on a date with me than finish his take-home midterm," she said.

The two married on May 19, 2012 at a surprise wedding, where guests thought they were attending a med school graduation for Chan.

The two honeymooned in Italy, flying in on a private jet and staying at a five-star hotel, Portrait Suites, where rooms start at €800 per night.

The couple tends to set aside two weeks every December to travel, often visiting Chan's family in China.

And they have an adorable dog named Beast.

Zuckerberg's sister Randi has made a name for herself as well. She published a book called "Dot Complicated" late last year, and starred in the Broadway show "Rock of Ages."

But back to Facebook... By the end of 2005, the site had surpassed 5.5 million users and received $12.7 million from Accel Ventures.

Zuckerberg continued to see success with Facebook and in 2010 was featured as Time magazine's person of the year. Vanity Fair also placed him at the top of their New Establishment list, and Forbes ranked him at No. 35 on its "400" list, ahead of Steve Jobs.

He took the company public on May 18, 2012. The IPO raised $16 billion almost instantly, making it the biggest tech IPO in history.

Another sign of Zuck having made it is the fact he received a $1 salary in 2013. (Not including the $653,164 for "other compensation," most of which covered bills for private chartered jets.)

He also frequently meets with really important people like Russia’s prime minister and former president, Dmitri A. Medvedev.

And President Obama. This is a visit back in February 2011.

Oh, and there was an art exhibit in Singapore that was solely about Mark Zuckerberg. The exhibition by Chinese artist Zhu Jia was called "The Face of Facebook."

Still, Zuckerberg is not particular showy, driving around this black Volkswagen GTI with a manual transmission, which costs around $30,415.

Although there were rumors floating around that he recently splurged on a Pagani Huayra.

In general, though, he seems to spend his money on trying to make the world a better place. He was the most charitable philanthropist in 2013, having donated half a billion dollars worth of Facebook stock to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. He has also donated a lot of money to Newark, New Jersey’s public school system and his nonprofit Internet.org.

But don't worry, he still saved more than $30 million to buy four neighboring houses around his home in Palo Alto. Apparently a developer was going to buy the houses and market them as being next door to Zuckerberg, so Mark decided to buy them himself and lease them to the original owners. His own home is 5,000 square feet. Oh, and he bought another house in San Francisco for $10 million.

He was also comfortable enough to helicopter to the Burning Man festival in Nevada for just one day.

All in all, Zuckerberg leads a pretty modest life, considering all of the billions he is worth. He's happy to stick with his hoodie.

Now check out the slightly less modest life of another billionaire...

Next Story 10 breathtaking valleys to visit in India in 202...