Who owns Facebook? Who created Facebook? Find out the truth

7 min. reading

Updated: 01/10/2017

If you look at the top ten richest people in the world according to Forbes for 2013, you will see that for the most part these are elderly, experienced people who are over 70 years old.

– 74 years old, – 83 years old, Amancio Ortega – 78 years old, Charles Koch – 78 years old, etc. Well, it turns out like in the song “my years are my wealth”? And financial success does not come to those who have not “grown” to the required degree of business experience and life wisdom?

The exception among wealthy people is those whose wealth is greater than their age. He has not yet reached his retirement years, but ranks 2nd in the ranking of the richest (58 years old and a fortune of 67 billion dollars). It’s not in vain that we remembered the legendary founder of the corporation, because journalists strive to compare our today’s hero, Mark Zuckerberg, with him.

And if Bill Gates became a billionaire at 31, then Mark - at 22! And although Zuckerberg’s fortune is 19 billion dollars, and Gates’s is 67, Mark’s age is half that of Bill’s - only 29 years. Zuckerberg also ranks 3rd on the list of the most influential businessmen in the world in 2013.

Who is he, after all?

Meet Mark Zuckerberg, creator of the world's largest social network, Facebook. Haven't you heard of this? Are the sites Twitter, VKontakte and Odnoklassniki familiar to you? Even if you don’t like to spend your free time on online communication, you’ve probably heard about them. All of these sites were created in 2006, 2 years after Zuckerberg's brainchild. And although Facebook was not the first social network in the world, it was the one that became a real breakthrough.

More than 1.4 billion accounts are registered on Facebook (for comparison, VKontakte has 228 million users). This figure could be comparable to the world population in the 17th century! And if we talk about our time, then among the 7 billion people living on the planet, about 20% of people are Facebook users.

The scale is impressive. It seems Zuckerberg's dream is starting to come true: “The thing that really excites me is fulfilling the mission of creating an open society.”

For the fact that Zuckerberg created “a new system of information sharing and changed lives”, he receives the title “Person of the Year 2010” from Time magazine.

The slogan “liberty, equality and fraternity” is certainly a good one. But let’s not forget about the other side of this noble idea - profits. Mark's invention brought him fabulous income and the title of the youngest billionaire in the history of mankind!

After all, people registering for Facebook, represent a huge database. Most large companies in the US, Europe and Asia have their virtual representation on Facebook, and every 4th advertisement posted on social networks is from Zuckerberg’s company. Facebook's net profit for 2013 was $1.5 billion.

How can we not quote Mark himself? “The older I get, the more convinced I am that servicing voyeurs is the best way to make money.”

I remember an online joke: “In connection with the emergence Facebook-a, VKontakte and Odnoklassniki, psychologists intend to exclude exhibitionism from the list of perversions.”

In 2006, Zuckerberg refused to sell Facebook for $750 million and was right – by 2014, the social network’s market value had increased to 150 billion!

Mark's biography will be short. He has not yet lived a long life full of ups and downs, and therefore he will boast not about the quantity, but about the quality of the past years.

What helped a boy from an intelligent Jewish family achieve worldwide fame?

Zuckerberg was born on May 14, 1984 in White Plains, New York. Mark was the only heir, but he had three sisters. The family was quite wealthy, Mark’s dad worked as a dentist, and his mother was a psychiatrist. It is no secret that in the United States these professions are among the most paid.

At the age of 10, his parents gave Mark his first computer - a Quantex 486DX with an Intel 486 processor. Young Mark decided to take it up as an adult and began reading special books on programming.

Science came easily to him; the teenager enjoys coming up with various programs, such as, for example, a computer version of the strategic board game “Risk.”

For his own entertainment, Mark develops the Synapse program, which is a self-learning music player. Synapse independently generated a list of tracks, having previously remembered what kind of music a music lover prefers and at what time of day.

The story with Synapse is noteworthy in that Zuckerberg refused Microsoft, which offered the teenager to buy his development. Mark was also not interested in the invitation to cooperate from this largest corporation. Later, he simply released Synapse to the public domain. Perhaps he was already guided by his credo?

“If a person has brains, he simply does not have the moral right to work not for himself, giving most of his time and the results of his achievements to his employer”

I understand that after these words, people working “for their uncle” will not immediately sign their resignation letter. But let this idea make you think about at least creating your own additional source of income.

Our hero was not a typical “nerd” who spent the best years of his life in front of a monitor. His parents tried to raise a harmonious personality, developed in all respects, and they succeeded. Modern parents should not let their children's passion for computers take its course, but should encourage them to engage in physical education so that the child does not suffer from scoliosis or myopia.

Mark was actively involved in sports and was an excellent fencer. In addition to good performance in mathematics and natural subjects, foreign languages ​​were also easy for him. Now Zuckerberg can read French, Latin, ancient Greek and Hebrew, and recently learned Chinese, because his wife has Chinese roots.

They say that it was at the prestigious private school Phillips Exeter Academy, where Mark studied, that the idea of ​​​​creating Facebook was born. At school, new students were given a directory containing photographs and coordinates of all classmates. It was this that schoolchildren called “The Facebook,” literally “The Book of Faces.”

After school, Mark continues his education at Harvard with a degree in psychology. Success always follows on the heels of those who follow unbeaten paths. For the art history exam, Mark had to study half a thousand paintings, and there were only 2 days left before the exam.

Zuckerberg took an unconventional approach - he created a website on which he displayed these 500 paintings and asked fellow students to describe them. After 2 hours, each picture was overgrown with comments from students, which helped our innovator get a pass.

For the creation of another site - Facemash - Mark was punished by the Harvard administration. All the student did was hack into the university’s computer network, and, taking photos from there, posted them in pairs on his website.

The site worked on the “hot or not” principle, i.e. “hot thing” or “not”, and invited everyone to comment on the attractiveness of the characters. The result of Facemash’s 2-hour work was 500 visitors, and soon the server crashed due to the number of thousands of users.

The site was closed, and Mark was accused of hacking and invasion of privacy. The charges, however, were dropped, and Mark saw that the simple idea of ​​comparing photos worked well. And I seriously thought about creating a social network.

Facebook celebrates its birthday on February 4, 2004. In addition to Zuckerberg, his fellow students, Eduardo Severin, Dustin Moskovitz, Andrew McCollum and Christopher Hughes, also worked on the creation of the site.

The opening of the project was accompanied by a scandal. A week after its launch, undergraduate students, the Winklevoss brothers and Divya Narendra, accuse Zuckerberg of stealing the idea.

In 2003, Mark was hired by them to complete the creation of the social network HarvardConnection.com. According to them, Zuckerberg did not give them the results of his work, but he used the results to open his website. Mark denies the accusations and says that he embodied an idea that was “flying in the air.”

He is convinced that a person “Whoever makes a comfortable chair should not pay everyone who makes the chairs.” However, in 2009, Zuckerberg had to pay his opponents $45 million to settle the case that went to trial.

Who knows how much truth there is in these accusations, but the proverb “winners are not judged” is still in use among the people. In response to all the speeches of spiteful critics, Zuckerberg replies: “You can’t make 500 million friends without making a single enemy.”

Facebook was originally developed for Harvard students to communicate. It was loved for the ease of finding information and the availability of photos, and soon the site united students from other universities. Since 2006, Facebook has been opened to all users over 13 years of age.

Mark invested all the money his parents raised for his studies into his new project, but the rapidly growing business required additional cash injections. Zuckerberg goes to Silicon Valley to find investors for Facebook. The energetic guy is lucky - on the street he accidentally meets Sean Parker, co-founder of the file-sharing network Napster.

He, in turn, introduces him to Peter Thiel, co-founder of online payments PayPal. Peter immediately spotted a gold mine and invested half a million dollars in Mark’s project. Zuckerberg is no longer returning to Harvard.

The Facebook team rents space in Palo Alto, one of the cities in Silicon Valley. Mark knew how to understand personnel: “We acquired talent, which, for me, is one of the best things that could be done.” Now, for example, the management of current operations is not managed by Mark himself, but by an experienced manager from Google. The company's staff is working hard to ensure that the site "does not allow you to move away from the monitor."

At the company, Mark maintains the image of an eccentric billionaire. Somewhere he really is like that, somewhere he plays along, because according to the reviews of his partners (by the way, most of them bought the “ex” prefixes), he is not as simple as he seems.

These famous “pajama” negotiations, when Mark discusses serious topics in carelessly wrinkled clothes and flip-flops on his bare feet! And the answer to the Microsoft representative’s offer to meet at 8 am and discuss business cooperation was “I can’t come, I’m still sleeping at this time”! And Mark’s refusal to meet with Yahoo’s authorized representative because “a girl is coming to see me.” Somehow all this looks like a polite “fuck you”... Our bastard designs his business cards even cooler - the inscription on them reads “I’m the director here, bitch!”

Well, the rich Generation Next have their own quirks. Remember ours, who explains his quirks primarily by the desire to stand out from the crowd. Mark's are not so strange - the guy still loves to walk and ride a bike.

Mark celebrated his wedding with his beloved girlfriend Priscilla Chen not on an exotic island, like, and not in a luxurious mansion, entirely decorated with fresh flowers, like. Relatives and friends, supposedly invited to Priscilla's graduation party, suddenly discovered that they were at a wedding ceremony!

The brilliant guy was born into a large family of a dentist and a psychiatrist. Growing up who was only interested in computers and programming, one might say, from the cradle.

He created his first network at the age of 11, of course, it was elementary programming, but still... Mark amazed everyone with his abilities and creative approach to creating innovative programs. He has many achievements under his belt since school age: board games, Winamp, etc.

All his first discoveries were made at the institute; he devoted himself greedily and passionately to his work. Surprisingly, in addition to programming, he managed to play sports, study foreign languages ​​and psychology - the creator of Facebook is truly a genius!

As a student, Mark emphasized the highest priority subjects; he did not have enough time for everything else. I prepared for the exams in a couple of days. In general, I graduated from the university with average academic results.

The creator of Facebook started a new life in 2003 when he came up with the world. The story began with the fact that he decided to take revenge on his ex-girlfriend. He created a website with a photo of her with the caption “stupid.” You could vote for the participant. Already in the first hours of operation, the site was visited by about twenty thousand people.

Another talented programmer, Divya Narendra, studied at the same university. He had been nurturing the idea of ​​a social network for a long time and even decided to open a website. The appearance of Mark Zuckerberg’s website immediately interested Nerendra, so they began to work together.

But the whole story of the union of these young businessmen did not end as optimistically as it began. The creator of Facebook received and his companions filed a lawsuit. Zuckerberg had to pay $65 million, and $7 billion is his capital. Rather, this did not bother the accused much, because if we compare his condition and development prospects, then this amount is like a “drop in the ocean.”

Despite the stunning success, enormous fortune and popularity of the Facebook network, its creator does not flaunt the most expensive cars and does not have a dissolute lifestyle. His daily transport is a bicycle. Likes to wear regular flip-flops, sleep on the floor and buy clothes in the mid-price segment.

They say “money spoils people,” but not in Mark’s case. The creator of Facebook is actively involved in charity work, and in the coming year he will donate $3.5 billion to it.

The young tycoon recently got married. The newlyweds dated for nine years, starting from their student days. In a word, it lasted for years. The ceremony took place secretly in the home of the creator of Facebook.

The same day became a grandiose event for the entire company - on the stock exchange the social network was valued at 124 billion dollars, which is higher than even the large oil company Gazprom.

The creator of Facebook is now experiencing his happiest moments - success in his personal life and business. It looks like this is just the beginning for the twenty-eight-year-old talent. I think we should wish him good luck, because such a “simple and personal” billionaire evokes only sympathy among most people.

The Hollywood film tells the story of a Harvard student who needed a service to find and meet girls.

This version is as far from the truth as possible, Mark Zuckerberg told Matthias Dopfner in an interview for Die Welt am Sonntag.

At that time, Mark already had a girlfriend - Priscilla Chan, his current wife, and he himself was obsessed with the Internet. Google was a great tool for finding news, and Wikipedia was easy to find background information, but it wasn't enough.

“There was no service that would allow us to find out anything about other people. I didn’t know how to create such a service, so I started working on other, less universal ones,” Zuckerberg told Dopfner.

He wrote a small app called Coursematch where people could mark what courses they were taking at university. He also created Facematch, as shown in the movie The Social Network. But as Zuckerberg says, it was just a joke.

Instead, Facebook came about because one student spent too much time programming and too little time studying. This is the story of how Zuckerberg turned a study service into a social network. And why didn't anyone do this before him?

But how did it become Facebook?

Mark Zuckerberg: In the end, everything happened thanks to a subject called “Rome of Augusta”, it was a course in the history of art. There were different pieces of art in class, you were shown several of them, and you had to write an essay about the historical significance of these pieces.

I didn't pay enough attention to the classes because I was programming at the time, and so when the time came for the final exam, I realized that I was finished, because I knew absolutely nothing about the subject.

So I wrote a curriculum that would randomly show you one piece of art and you would have to point out exactly why it was important in terms of history. I sent this program to a general email and said, “Hey, I made a curriculum here,” and everyone started using it. And the program itself has become an excellent social way of learning.

In total, during my studies at Harvard, I made about ten similar programs. I thought it would be nice to combine their functions into one application through which people could share anything with others. This is how the first version of Facebook appeared.

How long did the development take?

It only took a couple of weeks to create the first version of Facebook because I already had a lot of things ready.

When did you feel like your idea could become something big?

I remember quite well the night I launched Facebook at Harvard. We used to go out for pizza with a friend we were doing computer science assignments with.

And I remember then saying that I was glad that we at Harvard had a network through which we could communicate, and that someday someone would make the same network around the world.

Then I didn’t even think that it could be us. No one said, “I hope we can turn this into something big.” I had no idea that this would be our doing. We were just students. When I think back over the past 12 years, what surprises me most is that no one has done this before. And I ask myself why this happened.

And really, why?

It seems to me that there were always reasons not to do this. At every stage people told themselves, “This is only for young people,” and no one worked on this idea as much as they could. Or “Okay, some people use this service, but it won’t make money.” Or “Yes, it seems to work in the USA, but it won’t work all over the world.” Or “Oh, it works, but it’s unlikely to work on mobile devices.” These are all excuses, as you probably know.

And you just went and did it

Yes. This was just the beginning of Facebook. Now, after 12 years of history, the company is investing in the technologies of the future, from artificial intelligence to virtual reality.

Today, a very large team consisting of developers, programmers, marketers and other specialists is working on improving Facebook. However, only the creator of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, became the idol of youth and one of the most unusual businessmen of our time. They write and talk about him, they discuss him and admire him. This man made the world a little different, and that in itself is an achievement.

How it all started

Born into a family of doctors (father is a dentist, mother is a psychiatrist), Mark, it seems, was supposed to follow in the footsteps of his parents. But talking about medicine was not interesting to him, but working with computers gave the future billionaire great pleasure. It is worth noting that his father played a huge role in Mark’s future fate. He bought him his first computer, taught him the Atari BASIC programming language, and even hired a tutor. The son did not disappoint his father - Zuckerberg created several computer games, as well as a kind of messenger, which received the ambitious name “ZuckNet”. But the most serious project at that time was the Synapse program - a music player capable of analyzing the user’s musical preferences and offering him an individual playlist. AOL and Microsoft showed interest in the program, but the far-sighted Mark refused the, by the way, very tempting offers.

Talent in everything

Future CEO of Facebook Inc. I have always been an extremely enthusiastic and versatile person. He enjoyed learning new languages ​​and studying natural sciences. Moreover, Zuckerberg was the captain of the fencing team at school. And the choice of higher education completely surprised his loved ones. The programmer decided to enroll at Harvard to study... psychology! And, of course, I did. But the young man did not forget about programming. It was during his student years that Zuckerberg created his landmark project – Facebook. After this, the programmer began a completely different life.

Achievements

When talking about Mark's achievements, it is foolish to limit ourselves to financial data. This man did much more - he created jobs, took part in charity events and took communication to a new level. That is why its appearance in numerous rankings is not surprising. It is quite natural that The Times named the creator of Facebook Person of the Year, and Forbes included him in the list of the richest people in the world. Indeed, it is necessary to note the business talent of the young programmer. He is not just a “techie” creating an IT product. He skillfully manages finances, increasing his fortune every day.

Mark is also happy in his family life. His chosen one was Priscilla, an old friend and simply a wonderful girl who always supported the programmer. The couple met at Harvard, at a time when almost no one knew about Zuckerberg. Today, the married couple rarely appears in public, preferring to spend time in each other’s company.

And in general, it’s worth noting Mark’s modesty. He is often invited to interviews and TV shows, but the shy billionaire often refuses. After all, he is a man of action and devotes most of his time to his work. Behavior worthy of a humble talent, which Mark Zuckerberg certainly is.

Childhood. Mark Zuckerberg's school years

Computer programming attracted Mark back in school. In high school, Zuckerberg developed an online version of the tactical board strategy game Risk, after which he was noticed by Microsoft and AOL, who offered Mark a job. These offers were rejected by Zuckerberg - he decided to go to Harvard. Later, together with a friend, Zuckerberg developed the Synapse program for the Winamp audio player. This program determined the user's tastes and automatically generated a playlist based on the information received.

His passion for programming did not mean that the future billionaire spent days and nights in front of the computer. The boy's development was comprehensive: he loved fencing, mathematics, and enjoyed studying Latin and Ancient Greek. Mark was also interested in psychology - he entered Harvard for this specialty.

Harvard University. Creation of a social network

Mark Zuckerberg in the studio of Channel One

Now the young programmer needed to promote his brainchild. He didn’t know how to do it. Sean Parker, a cult figure of the American Internet, helped in promoting Zuckerberg. Sean introduced Mark to businessman Peter Thiel, who saw the prospects of the project and was ready to attract investment in it. By 2006, Facebook, which had long ceased to be a communication site for Harvard University students, became the seventh most popular Internet site in the United States. Zuckerberg begins to receive offers to sell the social network, but he unconditionally rejects them.

Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg

In March 2010, Zuckerberg's fortune was estimated at $4 billion, and already in September of the same year, Mark almost doubled his assets, which amounted to $7 billion. On the list of the most influential Americans of 2010, Zuckerberg ranks 29th. In December 2010, the young billionaire became Time magazine's Person of the Year. At the same time, Mark announced his joining the so-called “Giving Pledge,” a philanthropic project founded by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. According to the campaign charter, 50% of the person who joined can be donated to charity, both during the life and after the death of the person who took the oath.

In 2011, the Facebook founder ranked 14th on the list of the wealthiest US citizens. His fortune is estimated at $17.5 billion. Further, the growth rate of Zuckerberg's assets slowed down, but Mark is constantly getting richer.

Zuckerberg's visit to Russia

Meeting between Medvedev and Zuckerberg (FULL VIDEO)

At this conference, Mark states that the main advantage of the social network he created compared to other similar projects (hinting, first of all, to VKontakte) is the largest number of active users on the Internet. Zuckerberg encourages developers to create applications for the social network, and not for local networks, explaining this by access to an audience of almost 1 billion users, unprecedented in the history of the global Internet community.

On October 2, Mark gives a lecture in the auditorium of the Moscow State University Library. At an open lecture, Zuckerberg talks about himself, about the history of the creation, development and monetization of Facebook. The number of people wishing to attend the lecture was much greater than the actual capacity of the audience, and a lottery was held between registered students to receive invitation cards.

Personal life of Mark Zuckerberg

The Zuckerbergs are very humble people. When appearing in public, giving interviews, Zuckerberg always remains silent and stutters, gets lost, and feels awkward. Mark also cannot be called a fashionable and stylish dresser - GQ magazine recently called the billionaire “the most tasteless resident of Silicon Valley.” Recently, young people generally try not to appear in public, devoting time exclusively to each other, and donating a sufficient part of the funds to charity.