LIFETIME OF ACHIEVEMENT IN TECHNOLOGY

Born in 1984 in White Plains , New York , Zuckerberg ' s fascination with technology began early . As a teenager , he built a music player called Synapse , which caught the attention of Microsoft and AOL . He attended Phillips Exeter Academy , a prestigious preparatory school , where he excelled in fencing and academics . In 2002 , he enrolled at Harvard University , studying computer science and psychology .

At Harvard , Zuckerberg started creating software programs , including CourseMatch , which helped students choose classes based on their peers ' selections . In 2004 , he launched TheFacebook , as it was initially named , from his dorm room . The platform , designed to connect Harvard students , quickly gained popularity and expanded to other universities . Zuckerberg , joined by his college roommates Eduardo Saverin , Andrew McCollum , Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes , dropped out of Harvard to focus on Facebook full-time , moving to Palo Alto , California in 2004 .

Fueled by venture capital and strategic acquisitions , Facebook ' s reach expanded rapidly . In the following years it became a global phenomenon , attracting billions of users and transforming how people connect and share information . In the 20 years since its founding the company has built an empire of social media platforms , including Instagram , Threads and Whatsapp .

In October 2021 , Facebook rebranded to Meta to reflect all of its products and services across its family of apps and a focus on developing social experiences for the metaverse – moving beyond 2D screens toward immersive experiences like augmented and virtual reality to help build the next evolution in social technology .

“ We believe the metaverse will be the successor to the mobile internet ,” Zuckerberg explained at the company ’ s Connect event in 2021 . “ We ’ ll be able to feel present , like we ’ re right there with people , no matter how far apart we actually are . We ’ ll be able to express ourselves in new , joyful , completely immersive ways and that ’ s going to unlock a lot of amazing new experiences .”

COMPANY : META INDUSTRY : TECHNOLOGY LOCATION : UNITED STATES

Mark Zuckerberg is the founder , chairman and CEO of Meta , which he originally founded as Facebook in 2004 . He is responsible for setting the overall direction and product strategy for the company .

26 April 2024